Rebel Girl
by rowanred81
Summary: The end of one story, the starting point for another! AU set after Chloe drops Max off in Episode 3, who is at the breaking point when taking into account the events of all three episodes. She's tired of taking shit. Feedback is welcome, as this is my first fanfic - this game brought it out of me!
1. Chapter 1

Max watched as Chloe drove off, wondering how a day that started so awesomely could tank so fast. Mostly though, Max was heartbroken, the things Chloe had said were too much to take all at once. She felt her eyes water, but didn't sob. She just stood there, in front of Blackwell Academy, and let the tears run down her cheeks in silence. _Fuck, Chloe. Just...fuck,_ was the first thing that sprang to Max's mind. She turned around and made her way up the steps, heading toward the girls' dorm, as she had been suspended for outing Nathan Prescott's involvement with Kate Marsh at the Vortex Club party. Max pulled out her phone and shot Kate a message, "Hope u r getting the rest u need. U r loved - remember that."

One of the few plus sides to being suspended was that nobody was outside - she made her way to the totem pole and just sat, leaning against it while processing the last few days.

"Okay. I can time travel, I've saved Chloe's life twice already. Chloe...," Max stated to herself, whispering as she thought aloud, "I've taken the rap for a joint, nearly shot a drug dealer, broken into Blackwell _twice_ , and helped with the theft of $5,000 dollars. You're on a roll, Caulfield."

Max sighed. Part of her wishes she had never come back to Arcadia Bay, and the part of her that was glad she did is in pieces, wrecked by a whirlwind with blue hair. Max still couldn't get over Chloe being back in her life, and played the days' events over in her head, from the Chloe's near-death in the bathroom to the investigation of Frank's RV.

"Shit," Max blurted out. She still had the gun, retrieved from Frank's RV. She had been hesitant about giving the gun back to Chloe; no matter how chill Chloe seemed, _right now_ is not the time for Chloe Price to be carrying a firearm.

Max felt the gun's slight bulge in her camera bag, and was instantly thankful for the lack of metal detectors. Blackwell isn't _typically_ a criminal den, but Max had no desire to further a trend started by Nathan Prescott. Standing up and brushing the grass of the ripped jeans that she borrowed from Chloe, Max quickly made her way to the dorm. She nearly ran from the entrance to her door, taking time only to change out of the torn flannel and dump her chlorine-scented clothes from last night. Changing into a green hoodie and plain white t-shirt, Max was about to make a run for it out the building when she heard people start to make their way through the hall. She looked at her phone - it was lunchtime.

When Max opened her door and stepped out in the hallway, she felt like an oddity. She knew some of the girls were staring at her, she could feel it, and was afraid of getting busted. She turned around to find Victoria Chase looking at her through her own room's half-closed door.

"Well, if it isn't Blackwell's own delinquent hero, Max Caulfield. Is the limelight too much for our humble school's shining star?" Victoria asked, a smirk on her face. Max started to walk off, but stopped.

"...This, this type of crap...," Max started, her voice shaky in anger and awkwardness. She wasn't used to actually being _mad_.

"I'm sorry, were you saying something unimportant?" Victoria continued.

"Shut the fuck up, Victoria," Max uttered. She must've said it loud because Max heard the entire hall get _really_ quiet.

"...Excuse me...?"

"Shut. The fuck. Up. This crap, the way you treat some of us, is the same thing you did to Kate. Can you not grow up, can you not learn?" Max asked, her small hands clenching into fists. Victoria took a step further into her room, her head sticking out of the doorframe.

"That...that wasn't my..."

"You may not be the sole reasoning behind it. We all had our parts to play - we either didn't pay enough attention, or paid the wrong kind of attention. But you wouldn't let up on her, and you knew something was fishy about Kate's situation. So...just fuck off, Chase."

Max stood at the door to her room, staring down Victoria until she couldn't stand her face. She looked down the hall, and made her way toward the exit to the ground floor and outside. Dana and Juliet stopped her before she could make it. Max was still shaking. She couldn't believe what she had just said.

"Max...that was amazing," Juliet said, "You really are a hero."

"Hey, if you want to talk here's my number," Dana said, offering Max a slip of paper with a hastly drawn number. Max pocketed the number and mumbled a quick "Thanks" to Dana and Juliet before continuing down the hall and out the door. Every girl in the hall looked at Victoria, who huffed and slammed her door shut.

Max plugged her earphones in before she was even out the dormitory entrance, swiping through her music library. She broke into her small folder marked "Grrrl" and played Bikini Kill's "Rebel Girl" as she made her way across the courtyard. While Max would normally look for any photographic opportunities, Max was experiencing tunnel vision. The only thing she could think of was _Chloe_. Yes, five years. She knew she had fucked up, done Chloe really wrong. She had apologized past the point of tears after the lighthouse, and it felt like Chloe was just hanging those five years over Max whenever she wanted something or was pissed. Maybe Chloe _was_ rubbing off on Max, Max couldn't be sure, but she knew that her current frame of mind would fall into the "hella" category of being mad.

She saw Warren out of the corner of her eye, and jumped off the main courtyard's ledge onto the sidewalk. She crouched while walking across the sidewalk, catching the eye of Justin as she approached the front steps.

"Max, lookin' pretty wicked! Avoiding Warren, huh? Where's your trouble-making self headed?" Justin asked, a grin on his face. Max returned the grin.

"I'm going to find someone to _thrash_ with."

Justin must have caught what Max meant because his smile grew even bigger. "Rockin' Max, turning into a badass!" Justin said, waving as she made her way onto the bus. She found a seat near the front and scrunched into it, pulling her hood on so that she wasn't spotted by Warren. She felt her phone go off, and looked to see Warren blowing up her phone. She replied with a quick "Busy. Urgent business. TTYL." and shoved the phone into her back pocket.

About halfway through the bus ride, Max turned off her music and just stared out the window as Arcadia Bay seemingly flew by, the earbuds just providing a means of tuning out the world. The bus made one loop, two loops, and on the third Max found herself at the base of the hill where the lighthouse stood. She didn't know why, but felt she had to come here. Sprinting out the bus door, Max began the walk up the hill...and almost missed spotting Chloe's truck.

"Crap," Max said to herself. She didn't know what, if anything, would happen. Honestly, part of her didn't care. She loved Chloe, they were best friends, but the weight of the past few days had pushed Max past the point of tolerance. She knew she shouldn't have said some of the things she blurted out to Victoria, but they were true...and Max had some word for Chloe, too. Taking a breath, Max started walking up the lighthouse trail as the Sun started to set.

The woods alieviated some of Max's anger, the tranquility of nature always providing a shooting feeling as she enjoyed the quiet, the trees, and the small animals. She took a break, perching on a rock, when the lighthouse was in clear sight. If she _did_ run into Chloe, Max wouldn't know what might come out of her mouth. The uncertainty frightened her; Max was somewhat calmed down, but nowhere near her usual level of chill. Max was _hella pissed_ , and her heart was wounded. Closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths, she began to feel herself calm some more.

"...Max?"

Max's eyes popped open instantly, and she half-turned, propping herself with her arms as she looked back at Chloe Price making her way up the same path Max was on. Chloe took a half-step back, sensing something was different about the woman sitting on the tall rock in front of her.

"Y-you can't say those things to me, over and over, and not expect me to get mad," was the first thing Max said. Her voice, while trembling slightly, had something of an edge to it. Chloe felt uneasy as her friend slid down, off the rock, and stood a few paces away.

"Look, Max, I'm sorry I blew-"

"You always apologize, I always apologize. Aren't you sick of it?"

"...Max?"

" _I'm sorry, Chloe_. That is the last time I will apologize for the five years I didn't keep in touch. You didn't contact me, either. I get it - you're hurting, angry, and worried of being hurt more. But taking it out on me when I'm reaching for you is _not_ cool."

Chloe was stunned. Something aside from her struck a nerve in Max, and she was on some kind of warpath. She also knew that Max was right, which made what she was being told worse.

"I...I know, Max. I fucked up, okay? With everything about Rachel and Frank, added on with David...I popped! I _am_ sorry that you caught the hit, but..."

"But...? Choose your words carefully, Chloe Price."

Chloe froze, clamping her jaw shut. The last time Max had used Chloe's first and last name resulted in Max not speaking to her for two months when they were ten. She couldn't even remember the fight anymore, only the aftermath. Chloe remembers crying a lot over what she thought was a ruined friendship, and her heart ached at the thought of losing Max. Again.

"I just _can't_ lose anybody else, betrayal or disappearance or whatever. I'm tired, Max. I need someone that I can really, really count on. There was Rachel, but she was the only fucktard in Arcadia Bay. Now, she's...somewhere, and you waltz back into my life. I can't...my mood is like a fucking tidal wave, Max."

Chloe leans against the rock Max was sitting on, and lets a few tears spill before wiping them off with her jacket sleeve. Max slowly walks over to Chloe, and takes one of her hands. Chloe looks down at Max, who is looking into Chloe's eyes.

"We told each other. Forever, Chloe. I meant it."

"I know. I'm just hella scared, Max. I let you in, I'm wide open and that is fucking terrifying." Chloe squeezes on Max's hand slightly, feeling a reassuring squeeze in return. She smiles slightly in relief, and hugs Max. Chloe's smile becomes easier as she feels Max tightly hold Chloe to herself.

Max breaks the embrace and looks around, the anger seemingly vanished. She should still be mad, but she felt like Chloe, the Chloe who just bared her soul, was a part of the Chloe she knew five years ago. This woman, blue hair and all, was really Chloe.

"Alright, Che. Keep calm and carry on," Max said, lightly elbowing Chloe. Max watched Chloe visibly relax, and pull a joint from a pocket in the liner of her jacket.

"Ugh, after all this I could really use some alternative alleviation," Chloe said as she placed the joint in her mouth and lit it. Before she could take a puff, she saw Max looking at her pensively. "Max, what is it?"

"Could I, maybe, try a puff?" Max asked, and Chloe noticed she was still tense.

"Damn, Mad Max. Who else suffered your wrath? Is there a trail of bodies going back to Black-Hell?" Chloe asked, handing the doobie to Max. She watched in amusement as Max took a puff, longer than she probably should have, and kept it in longer than Chloe believed she would've. Didn't stop Max from coughing while exhaling.

"Wowsers. And you do this often? Damn," Max said, waving the lingering pot smoke away from her face. It was bad enough she had clothes that smelled like pool; she didn't need another set of clothes smelling like reefer.

Max and Chloe made their way down the hill, their reasons behind the climb vanishing as they enjoyed being with each other. Chloe would give Max sidelong glances when Max wasn't paying attention, impressed with her best friend. _Damn, Caulfield, you grew up nicely. Photog, and you're finding your spine? Hella cute._

The night sky was clear as Chloe and Max sat on the old boat in the junkyard. Using the plank that still crossed over from the small hill, Chloe and Max were sitting on two ratty chairs while spacing out together. The quiet and the dim illumination from Chloe's hideout was soothing to Chloe's medicated state of mind and Max's nerves. Max re-positioned herself in her chair, accidentally breaking the silence as the seat scrapped slightly against the boat's hull. Chloe opened her eyes hazily, snapping out of whatever she was thinking.

"Max?" Chloe asked, her voice sounding like she was half-asleep.

"I'm here. My butt was falling asleep. I disagreed," Max said with a slight grin.

"I still can't believe Little Miss Bad-Max tore Victoria Chase a new hole. Don't get me wrong - she had it coming like crazy. Hella crazy. I just...she must've shit her pants to get what was coming from the 'shy, cliche geek'."

"She visibly shrank into her room some. I feel kinda bad, using the situation with Kate, but Kate was definitely victimized by Victoria. I can't believe I said it, either."

Max's phone vibrated. She looked hesitantly at Chloe, who just smirked and took a swig from her beer.

"I'm going to try and not be so jealous. Answer your phone, Maximus. I won't bite."

Max grinned and looked at the screen. Warren was asking if she was okay...then asking if he should come over, and wanting to see her. She texted that she wasn't at Blackwell, and that she was with somebody, to which Warren asked if she wanted to meet up. Max sighed a little, perhaps to loudly, because Chloe swiped Max's phone and looked at the ever-increasing Warrent texts.

"Dude, your hella persistent. I'll give you that," Chloe said as she scrolled through the list of messages. "This boy is crushing hard, Max."

"I've tried to re-iterate that we are just friends, Chloe. I shoot down his attempts at dates."

"Shoot down, or make awkward declines?"

"Uhh...," Max began to play with some of her hair. Chloe laughed so hard, so suddenly, she nearly fell off the boat.

"Here, hold your phone out for a picture. Take a pic on the count of three. One...two...three!"

On three, Chloe kissed Max on the cheek, leaving her mouth open just enough that Max felt the tip of Chloe's tongue touch her. She felt her finger press on the capture button, her face burning, as Chloe took the phone with a mischievous look on her face. She played with the phone for a moment, then tossed it back to Max. Max looked at her friend, then the phone. She touched her face, and saw Chloe trying not to laugh. Max looked at the phone again, and turned it on.

Chloe had sent the picture to Warren as a message. The small text underneath the image said "Message seen at 7:35pm".

"You brat!" Max said, play-hitting Chloe. She felt Chloe shaking, a giggle breaking the silence. Max looked down at her phone and saw no further messages pop up. _Wow, Warren has been silenced_ , Max thought.

"He's got to be getting on your nerves by now, c'mon! I did you a favor, a favor!" Chloe said, raising her hands to block Max's half-hearted strikes. The two stood up and began to swat at each other, only to stop suddenly as the boat lurched slightly under them.

"I think we need to make landfall," Max said, looking at the plank. Max glanced at Chloe, who nodded agreement, and the two of them made their way across the plank. They walked down the hill to the small shack that Chloe had decorated, the one Max had explored on their previous trip to the dump. Chloe looked over at the "Max was here" written under her and Rachel's writings and grinned.

"Just had to write on my wall, huh?" Chloe asks, turning to smile at Max and take a seat across from her. Max nods satisfactorily and folds her arms.

"I _was,_ am, here. Only fair."

"Touche, Claufield." Chloe passes her half-empty bottle to Max, who takes a small swallow followed by a face of revulsion.

"Ugh, Chloe, it's warm," Max says as she sticks her tongue out, "So gross."

"Hey, don't know it...woah, this _is_ pretty gross. It was fine, well, whenever I drank it last."

Chloe tosses the beer out of one of the glass-less windows, reclining onto one of the two occupied benches. Max remains upright, but props her feet on the edge of the makeshift table with the makeup and magazines. The two share a contented smile, and Max blushes some as she thinks of the kiss Chloe had given her. _Why am I blushing?,_ Max thought but the softness of the Chloe's lips, the slight tongue slip, wouldn't leave her train of thought. Max was about to speak up when she heard a noise coming from the road leading up to the junkyard. Chloe shot up, and peered out of the doorway, then looked at Max with a frantic expression.

"It's Frank! We have to go!" Chloe said as she grabbed Max's hand and ran outside toward the shed opposite the train tracks.

"Chloe! Get your punk-wannabe ass out here! I know you and your creepy little shit went into my RV! You left my dog out, you think I wouldn't fucking notice?!" Frank shouted as he closed and locked his RV shut. He eyeballed Chloe's truck and peered inside, looking for anything suspicious. Frank didn't trust the Price brat, and he sure didn't trust the girl she was running with - the shit had tried to shoot him, after all. Frank grinned in relief when he thought of the gun tucked away in his RV, and began to search the junkyard.

Across the train tracks, Chloe and Max crouched while looking through the windows of the small utility shed. Chloe looked at the broken door and became anxious. There wasn't much of anywhere else to go; Frank had parked his RV next to her truck and there wasn't anybody else for miles.

"I hella wish you hadn't broken the lock for the door to this place," Chloe whispered as she looked at Max.

"Well, if you would like me to I could always _not_ save your life anymore. The lock died in the line of duty," Max whispered back sarcastically.

"So, what's the plan, Maximilian? We need to get back to my truck, time meow."

Max heard her, but was looking at the boat they had been sitting on earlier. It was tall enough to obscure Frank's vision, and it split the junkyard into two different pathways. Frank's flashlight signaled where he was, but he hadn't gotten to the boat yet.

"If we try for the boat, we can slip by him as he walks on the other side..."

" _That's_ your plan? Sneak and pray for a miracle?" Chloe rolled her eyes and looked at Max again. Max shrugged and gestured to the area the truck was parked at.

"We have no choice, Chlo. We need to get to your ride, and the only way I see is the bonkers way."

"...Fuck, alright," Chloe said, riling herself up, "Let's do this."

Slowly, Chloe and Max made their way out the shed and down the hill to the train tracks, hugging the hill and crouched low to avoid the beam of Frank's flashlight. Making it to the switch box, Chloe and Max scanned the area in front of them hurriedly. Frank was nowhere to be seen. The two crossed the tracks and started to sneak toward the boat when a light shone directly on them.

"Did you really think you were being stealthy?" Frank asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Hard to hide blue hair under moonlight, kids."

"Fuck off, Frank. Let us go," Chloe said, her voice sterner than she actually felt. Chloe remembered the knife from yesterday, inches from her face. She had been in fights before, but not one so imbalanced. Chloe heard the swish of Frank's switchblade click into place, saw the glint of light on the sliver of sharpened metal.

"Too late for that, girl. You broke into my home, you fucked with my property, and you messed with my dog! If I didn't know you I might just warn you, but I _do_ know you and you'll never stop. You need more than a warning - you need a reminder.

 _Click._

Frank froze, and Chloe turned her head to look behind her out of the corner of her eye. In Max's raised hands was the gun she'd taken from David's case, and it was pointed right at Frank.

"I-it's loaded this time. No fu-funny business, asshole," Max said, her arms shaking slightly. Frank raised his hands slowly, but his facial expression only grew darker. Chloe stepped backwards to stand behind Max, half-crouched as though Max were a shield to hide behind.

"Shithead punk, if you think that I can be intimidated by the likes of you..." Frank started but froze when the gun went off and the ground a few feet in front of him erupted in a small explosion from the gunfire. He looked at the direction of the two girls, his mouth open slightly like he was going to protest, but didn't move.

"Chloe," Max said with false bravado, "Go to your truck, and get his money. _Only_ his money. Understand?"

"Yeah...I got it," Chloe said as she sprinted past Frank toward the entrance to the junkyard. Frank watched as she passed where he was standing, then looked to the pint-sized girl leveling the gun at him.

"Kid, look, I wasn't really-"

"You're going to take your money, and you're going to go. Leave us alone, from here on out. You see us, you leave us be and you get your money Chloe loaned from you. Deal?"

"Yeah, it's...it's a deal. When the hell did you get a spine, girl?"

"It's been a really shitty couple of days," Max finishes as Chloe comes back from the truck, an envelope with Frank's money thrust into his free hand.

Frank carefully, slowly, closes the switchblade and backs away while keeping the light on Chloe and Max. Chloe just stares at Max as Max keeps the gun level at Frank until he enters his RV and leaves. As soon as Frank's RV is out of sight, Max falls to her knees in tears, cradling the gun in her hands. Chloe kneels down next to her and holds Max as she continues crying.

"Shh, Max. Shh. You were scary amazing. You saved us, saved me again," Chloe says into Max's ear softly, gently rocking her friend as the sobs continue.

"I-I-I didn't want to do that, Chloe. I just...I just wanted him to go, to leave us alone. I'm so scared, Che. Who the fuck am I right now? Only a few days, a few days..." Max says as she begins to pass out. The last thing Max hears feels is Chloe catching her before she hit the ground. Then darkness.

Max wakes up, and sees her photo wall next to her. She's back in her room, but can't remember how she got there. She squints her eyes and begins to sit up.

"Hey, you're awake," she hears Chloe say gently.

Max looks up and sees Chloe moving from the couch to sit next to Max on the bed, with Juliet on the couch and Dana at Max's desk. All three girls stare at Max for a moment before Juliet and Dana get up to leave.

"Dana? Juliet...? Wha-"

"Rest, Max. Chloe told us that you had a really trying day, and after everything that has happened you need some quality sleep," Dana said, putting her hand on Max's shoulder.

"The Blackwell Ninja needs to lay off the ninja for tonight, Max," Juliet says, smiling. "You seem to be in good hands. Good night."

The door closes and Max looks at Chloe, who is just grinning at her best friend.

"Didn't think you were the type to befriend Vortex Club attendees, Max."

"They're really nice, and nothing like Victoria and her brood."

"Oh, yeah - Victoria's slate reads "No Caulfields Allowed". Good job, tiger mama," Chloe says, playfully punching Max on the shoulder.

Max smiles faintly, and places a hand on Chloe's cheek. Chloe covers the hand with one of her own and closes her eyes.

"Helluva day, huh? Sleepover, adventure, fights, adventure, fights," Max says in exhaustion as she looks into the eyes of her friend, a shade of blue Max feels she wants to lose yourself in.

"Hella crazy, Max, but that seems to be the norm for us lately. Hey, listen. I just want to say-"

Chloe is silenced by Max placing a finger on Chloe's lips. Chloe closes her eyes and feels her eyes begin to moisten, tears cascading down her cheeks. Then, something soft and wet. _Max is kissing my tears away_ , Chloe thinks as she shakes from the sudden relief from all of the day's tension. _This beautiful, geeky, stronger-than-I-thought girl is making me better when she's had it worse today. I don't deserve this, I don't. But I want it, so bad._

Chloe opens her eyes and finds Max sitting upright, their faces only a few inches apart. Max is smiling, her cheeks wet from her own fresh tears. She looks into Chloe, _through_ Chloe, and takes her friend's hands.

"Forever, Che."

"Forever, Max."

Chloe and Max lean in at the same time, lips meeting halfway tenderly. The soft kiss is long, and if followed by several others, albeit stronger and shorter. Their arms wrap them together, hands intertwining in each other's hair and down the other person's back. Chloe opens her eyes during the embrace and sees Max looking at her during a kiss, a shine to her face. Chloe breaks the kiss off, and just leans her forehead into Max's, breathing audibly with a smile of ecstasy on her face.

"I love you, Maxine Caulfield. Don't ever leave me," Chloe says, taking Max's hands in hers. Max kisses her softly on the cheek.

"I love you, Chloe Price, and if I leave it is only with you beside me."


	2. Chapter 2

Max and Chloe cuddled for a bit, before Max surrendered to the beast that was all of her homework. Chloe, needing to take a cigarette break, said she would be back later. The two women held each others' hands at the dormitory exit, Max tip-toeing to kiss Chloe on the forehead. Feeling awkward and blushing, Chloe quickly gave Max a peck on the cheek before taking off. Max felt a small, contented sigh escape passed her lips and walked back to her floor. Max opened the door that led to her hallway to find Juliet standing in the doorway to Dana's dorm room. Juliet turned at the noise of the stairway door closing and waved for Max to come over.

"Max! We want details, but don't worry. What is said in Dana's room stays in Dana's room," Juliet says, sounding like she's almost pleading. Dana pokes her head out of her doorway and grins at Max gleefully.

"Max, c'mon! We spilled to you, so you have to give us a breakdown!"

Max grinned and shook her head to herself. _What have I gotten myself into?_ Max thought, but was happy that she had made two new friends. Despite feeling like she cheated to get where she was with Dana and Juliet, Max really did care; they didn't deserve the crap given to them by Victoria. Max shuffled her way over to their room, and closed the door behind her with Juliet and Dana sitting on the bed. Max took a seat at Dana's desk and was quiet. She felt awkward, as there wasn't much to tell and she didn't want to blurt out anything too intimate.

"So, Max, you're into punk girls? You and your friend seem pretty close," Juliet started.

"We watched her carry you on her back all the way to your room, and just watch you from your couch. We would've checked in sooner, but she was pretty defensive of you," Dana said, "She only let us in after we convinced her we were your friends."

 _Friends,_ Max thought. It isn't like I don't have any, but hearing someone else say it is nice to hear.

"Yeah, Chloe can be a little greedy when it comes to me. Sorry if she rubbed you guys the wrong way or anything," Max said, a little bashful.

"Oh no, nothing like that. We've...well, we've never seen anyone so close to you. Except, maybe Warren...?" Juliet said, looking at Dana for confirmation on the last remark.

"Oh god, Warren. He probably tripped when he saw the picture Chloe sent him from my phone!" Max sputtered. _Shit! They'll want to see the pic!_ Max thought as soon as she'd mentioned the picture aloud.

"A picture? Give it over," Dana said, hand outstretched.

Max pulled out her phone and scrolled to the image Chloe had sent to Warren. She could still feel the softness of Chloe's lips, the warm breath across her face. _Beer and pot, but still totally wow._ Max handed over her phone and Dana shared her view with Juliet. They didn't say anything at first, just looked at the phone. Dana looked up at Max and winked, while Juliet was still looking at the picture. Juliet broke her staring by giggling a bit, and took the phone from Dana. She handed the phone back to Max, who shoved it into a pocket in her jeans as quickly as she could.

"Um, that...that was pretty hot," Juliet said, "How do you two know each other?"

"Well, we were best friends when I lived here a while ago. We recently got back together and, well...," Max started.

"Max, you don't have to tell us anymore than what you want to. We don't see you genuinely happy very often, or with someone. She clearly means a lot to you, and you do to her," Dana said.

Max just nodded and slowly got up. Juliet and Dana gave her a group hug, with Juliet and Dana adding Max's phone number to their contacts. Max grinned sheepishly as she left their room, she wasn't used to being the center of anybody's attention. _Warren's definitely, but Dana and Juliet are interested solely in friendship, nothing more. Warren...it's so complicated. Boys_ _ **are**_ _gross._ Max entered her dorm room, watering Lisa and feeding Kate's rabbit before sitting down to trudge through her homework. As she made her way through the pages and the exercises, Max's thoughts would occasionally drift: Chloe, Rachel, Kate, Chloe. The dots were there, Max knew, and some connected through David and Nathan; there just wasn't enough information yet. They needed something more concrete, like a lair or something. Max looked at the clock on her laptop's menu bar; she had been at her desk for nearly four hours.

"Wow, I hella lost track of time," Max said, then smirked as she realized she said "hella". _Chloe Price, you are not good for my vocabulary. Before you know it, every other word will be "fuck" or "shit"._ Max scanned through the assignments she completed, ensuring that each was finished to her satisfaction. Nodding, Max attached the files to the appropriate teachers and sent each email off. _Shoo, homework, don't bother me!_ Leaning back in her chair, Max exhaled a long breath and widened her eyes as they adjusted to not staring at a computer screen. Seeing her new-old camera sitting at her bedside table, she went over and took a quick snapshot while standing in front of the mirror. She was in a pair of her jeans, but was wearing a black t-shirt with the red flannel. The long sleeves were rolled up, and Max enjoyed feeling the warmth of the fabric - it reminded her of Chloe. Putting the camera in her bag, Max collected herself and left the dorm, waving to Alyssa as she passed her in the hallway.

Pulling out her phone, Max scoffed as she found that it had been on silent the entire time she was doing homework. Max wasn't really upset - she needed to get the assignment done - Chloe would probably be wondering what was going on. Opening up the messages app, she scrolled down the list recently change to "You Know Who".

"Nice, Che, really adds on the mystique," Max muttered to herself and she scrolled down.

You Know Who: Max, how's the classwork goin? U ready 4 me, bby?

You Know Who: Max, don't keep ur future baby daddy waiting! Msg plz

You Know Who: Can I haz Max?

You Know Who: Srsly, Max, where the fuck are you?

You Know Who: Max

You Know Who: Where

You Know Who: R

You Know Who: U?

Max laughed at the last four messages. _What a dork. My dork, but still._ Max typed a quick "U rang?" and didn't even get to pocket her phone before a "MAX!" popped up on her screen. Looking at the message, she found that it was from Warren. _Dude, WTF?_ Max thought, the all-caps message catching her off-guard. Max looked up and saw Warren waving from across the courtyard. Hesitantly, Max walked over to where Warren was waiting, a big grin on his face.

"Maxine the Beauty Queen!" Warren said a little too cheerfully.

"Uh, hey Warren," Max said a little awkwardly.

"Max, that was one hell of a joke you and your friend sent me! Ohh, I was shell-shocked for the rest of the night!"

"Warren...um...," Max looked up to see that Warren wasn't smiling so brightly anymore, "That _was_ a joke at the time, but she and I are...well, we're kind-of _something_ now."

"...What? I didn't know you swung that way, Max. I thought, maybe, that-"

"I know, Warren, but I really just want us to be friends." Max could practically hear a meme playing out loud. _God, this is embarrassing. For both of us. Please, just stop Warren._

"Well, since I am such a nice guy, I'm going to-"

"Max!" came a shout from the main courtyard. Max and Warren looked down the breezeway to the main campus to see Chloe heading toward them, her smile faltering a bit as she registered what was going on by the looks on Max's body language and Warren's face. Chloe picked up her pace, but kept walking so as to not provoke any type of response. Sweeping past Warren, Chloe scooped up Max, quickly putting her arm around the smaller woman's waist.

"Hey, girl," Chloe said with a bit of cheesiness.

"Really? You greet me with a meme?" Max said, an eyebrow raised, "You would've been better off with what you text'd me."

Chloe grinned, then looked over to Warren, who was looking increasingly awkward.

"Oh, hey...uh..."

"This is Warren. Warren, this is Chloe," Max said, matter-of-factly. _Please, stop. I want to rewind this so bad._ Max's hand starts to twitch, when Chloe offers a hand to Warren.

"Hey, Warren. Thanks for taking the heat for Max. Wear the bruises like fucking painful badges of honor," Chloe said earnestly, but clipped, "I thought we could go see my Mom at work, Max Factory. She's been hella quiet since yesterday. She could use some Max-and-Chloe time. Plus, potential free food and we can discuss...things."

Max looked over at Warren apologetically, who just nodded and walked off sullenly. At least, Max thought he looked sullen. _I'm sorry, Warren, but I can't control who I like in the way you want me to._ Max looked up at Chloe and smiled faintly, with Chloe responding by giving Max a soft kiss on the lips. She tasted like weed and cereal.

"You taste like the most screwed-up breakfast ever, Che," Max said, laughing a bit as they walked toward the parking lot, "I feel so bad for Warren."

"I don't. I heard the "nice guy" phrase come out - that shit doesn't end with smiles and friendship, Max. Besides, you're taken. You are _taken_ , right?" Chloe looked at her, a slighly anxious look on her face.

"Against my will, sure. Load me up with kisses and drugs, I'm all yours."

"Still a smartass, Caulfield."

"Your smartass, smartass."

Chloe and Max drove through Arcadia Bay, paying more attention to each other than the road. Chloe's free hand intertwined with one of Max's, she hadn't felt this good in...ever. Chloe would occasionally look over to see Max watching her. _This is real, this is real, holy fuck this is real. Please, don't fuck it up._ Chloe thought like a mantra. She coughed, and looked sideways over at Max.

"So, what's the stitch? Any new leads or idea for leads?" Chloe asked abruptly, and quickly.

"Well, we know that Amber and Nathan are connected, and Prescott's file mentions a 'dark room'. I'm thinking we check out some of the places you and Amber would hang out at. The ones that are Frank-free, please?" Max said, the last bit with some caution. Last mention of Frank in this truck resulted in what Chloe had referred to before leaving this morning as "Max Smash!". A repeat was not necessary, or wanted.

"Fuck yes, no more Frank! Dude's paid off and warned off. Now, he can just fuck off."

"So, Che? Ideas?"

"Right. Um, well, there is the lighthouse. Like, actually in the lighthouse. I'd meet Amber there sometimes, and sometimes we'd go there together. Two Whales, obviously, but unless my mom keeps a secret torture dungeon in a hidden basement we're good. The junkyard, which we've kinda been over. Max, what else is in that brain of yours?"

"...We could tail Nathan Prescott...," Max said slowly, to which Chloe slammed her hand on the steering wheel.

"Dude, that could totally provide us with some clues! Why didn't you say that first?"

"I'm kinda nervous about doing that, Chlo. Nathan is mad bonkers and we already know he carries a gun on him. I've seen him use it," Max said, growing quiet at her recollection of Chloe being shot in the bathroom what seems like forever ago.

"Hey, Max, it's okay. We...I can be careful. Besides, you held up pretty well against Frank last night."

"I am _not_ doing that again, Chloe. I felt ill, I was so scared. You may have shot bottles but I shot _towards a person_. It's...a different feeling, Che."

Chloe rubbed her thumb against Max's, consolingly. Chloe knew that Max had broken up a bit after that - she'd had to carry Max from to her truck, and then from her truck to Max's dorm room. She didn't want Max going through something like that again; Max was changing so fast, and Chloe was a little scared of how Max might come out at the end of all this bullshit.

"You don't have to do anything that you don't want to do, unless it involves me and girl-on-girl things. Those are always a win-win," Chloe said, eliciting a smile from Max.

"Yeah, about last night? Are we, what, girlfriends now? Is that a definite terminology? Or, is it more like _lovers_?" Max asked, ending in a sarcastic, playful tone.

"That would be one way to introduce our new sitch to my Mom. 'Hey, Mom. Max and me are lovers now. Just so you know.' She'd be happy for us, but probably pop a stitch," Chloe said, trying not to laugh.

"So...girlfriend, then?"

"I guess. Personally...I'd go with soulmate."

"Now who's the poet, Che?" Max said, poking Chloe in the ribs.

"Yeah, what-fucking-ever. I get mushy too. Sometimes. Maybe."

The two bantered back and forth the rest of the way to Two Whales, bringing up all kinds of random topics. Chloe threatened a couple times to throw Max out of her truck, but laughed when Max feigned a shocked expression - Max even put her hand to her chest for effect. As Chloe switched off the truck and the two of them got out, Max closed her eyes and inhaled the aroma of french fries emanating from the diner before them.

"Dude, are we sniffing or eating? You on a diet?" Chloe joked, taking Max's hand and leading her inside. The two looked over to where Joyce was occupied, facing away from them as she set to making another pot of coffee. Selecting the same booth as the last time they were here, Chloe whipped out her phone while Max traced her fingers across the math formula etched into the tabletop. Their minds occupied with multiple trains of thought, they didn't notice Joyce standing over them until she placed two mugs of coffee on the table, a tired and sad expression on her face.

"Hey, Joyce," Max said, trying to sound cheerful. _I feel so bad, playing a part in whatever is going on now with her and David. Yeah, he creeped on a lot of people, but he really did care about Joyce._

"Hey, Max. Chloe. Sorry about yesterday; I know that I was pretty embarrassed afterwards," Joyce said, sounding exhausted.

"Mom, look. I know you...love David, but he totally went NSA on our house. Nevermind what he was pulling at Blackwell. He still staying at the house?" Chloe asked. Chloe wanted her Mom to tell her stepdouche was gone, but she also didn't want to see her Mom in so much pain.

"We're...taking a break, Chloe. I know he means well, but the cameras and the files...it was too far to just be talked over in one night. And I know you two meant well - I just wish it hadn't gotten as far as it did in front of you."

Max put a hand on Joyce's arm, looking up at her from the booth. She smiled faintly, which seemed to be mirrored by Joyce. At least, for the moment.

"Enough about yesterday. What have you two been up to now, and what will you be inevitably not paying for here?" Joyce said, her usual wit returning.

Max ordered a plate of french fries, to which Chloe ordered chicken strips. Joyce noticed something was different from the awkward glances the two girls gave each other.

"Are you two not getting along again?" Joyce asked.

Chloe balked. "No, Mom, that's not it at all." In a more hushed tone, she continued. "Mom, Max and I...we...," Chloe started before looking pleadingly at Max, "Dude, you say this shit better than I do."

Max rolled her eyes, then looked up at Joyce. She took a breath, and exhaled.

"Joyce, I'm with your daughter. Like, _with with_ ," Max said in all seriousness. Chloe grimaced and mumbled "Nice, Whitman. Classy as fuck."

Joyce looked at Chloe, then at Max.

"That's it?" Joyce asked.

"Um, yeah that's it Mom," Chloe said in a single breath, "We're totally in lesbian with each other."

"Okay," Joyce said, sounding unfazed, "It's not like it is a shocker to me. You two are thick as thieves," and with that, Joyce walked off to behind the counter.

"What was that?" Max asked Chloe, who looked equally speechless.

"A...non-judgemental blessing...? I don't know, were we expecting a nuclear explosion?" Chloe asked.

Max just shook her head, face unreadable. The two took a moment to situate themselves, then began to draw up a plan. Max, using a napkin, began to take a list of all the places Chloe knew Rachel frequented. In return, Max rattled off what she knew of Nathan Prescott's schedule and who he associated with. Chloe thought that following him in the truck would be easier, but Max pointed out that Nathan had seen both of them in the truck.

"So what, we hoof it across Arcadia Bay?" Chloe asked, "We won't get shit done, Max."

"Or we might find something that results in 'Eureka'!" Max replied, trying to be optimistic.

"Let's go to the places on the list first, and brainstorm some more on how to deal with following Ass-scott."

Joyce returned with the food just as Chloe and Max came to an agreement on their plan of action.

"Here you go, you two. Enjoy, and...congratulations...?" Joyce said, smiling at the end with Max blushing and Chloe looking out the window like there was something important going on outside. Joyce shrugged and walked back behind the counter.

"I am starving, Max. Let's eat!" Chloe said, popping a fry into her mouth. Max started laughing after Chloe began breathing hard, forgetting in all the awkwardness that Two Whales serves their food fresh. And hot.

Max runs to the counter and asks for a soda. Joyce looks to the booth and gives Max a bemused expression, then slides a soft drink down the counter. Max returns to the booth and hands Chloe the can of soda. Chloe pops the can and chugs for a good five seconds, then puts the soda down with enough force that a little splashes out.

"Well, that sucked," Chloe said, grabbing a chicken strip and tearing it into a couple pieces more easily edible. Before popping a morsel into her mouth, though, she blew on it a bit while giving Max the finger with her free hand, Max laughing the entire time.

"Okay," Max said, finally digging into the food herself, "We should check out somewhere we haven't been first. Any preference?"

"Nhm, m'gud," Chloe said while still chewing. Swallowing her food, she added "We should go to the lighthouse first. There's also that weird shed next to it - we should try to get into both of them."

Max nodded, and resumed eating. They didn't say much during their lunch together, more thoughtful to what was coming next. So far, every event that steered them in the direction they were headed led to trouble of some kind. Max was afraid, both of finding nothing and a lead; she was torn between finding Rachel and how that would affect Chloe and her's beginnings of a relationship. _Is that what this really is_ , Max wondered to herself, _or am I just being overly hopeful. Chloe looks peaceful, and I want to be a part of the reason why. I just don't want to lose whatever it is we have, especially with it just starting. Wowsers, I really am in love._

"Max, you there? Come back to us, Max, come back to Earth."

Max snapped out of her thoughts, and saw Chloe starting to put on her jacket. The sky outside was beginning to darken a bit, and Max thought she heard thunder in the distance. Max looked at Chloe.

"Max, you were on auto or something, popping food into your mouth like a fucking robot. You okay?" Chloe asked, reading Max's facial expression of trepidation.

"I'm worried, Chloe. I'm worried that whatever we find will lead to nothing good," Max said, looking down at her hands, "and I'm afraid of where these powers are leading me. I worry I'll just fade away. I was already stuck in time once when Kate was about to jump. It was only a moment, but everything was frozen - I could see birds wings mid-flight, raindrops in mid-air."

Chloe looks at her friend and grins.

"You put on a front of shy girl, but we both know you're a closet badass. And I have your back. If you start to feel off, just say so and we'll take a break. Okay?"

Max nods and the two of them get up from their booth. Max lays down a $10 dollar bill for the food, not wanting Joyce to foot the bill. Chloe looks at her and smirks, then takes Max's hand and they walk out the Two Whales together, the lighthouse on both of their minds.

The walk up the hill was relatively quiet, Chloe and Max focused on the task at hand. Walking alongside one another, their thoughts were similar but not necessarily the same.

 _Please, lead us to Rachel. I need to at least know she's okay. I can't believe she fucked Frank. Dammit._

 _We need a clue, something to go from here. And please, nothing dangerous this_ _ **one time**_ _. I've had enough danger so far this week to make into a TV miniseries._

Max's phone went off. Both Chloe and Max jumped at the sudden beep, then chuckled as they realized how on edge they were. Pulling out her phone, Max gestured to a bench a little ways ahead. Chloe nodded and strode over, lighting up a doobie as she plopped down into the wooden seat. Max walked a little more slowly, then stopped just a few feet away from the bench. Chloe leaned forward, a concerned look on her face as Max slid her finger across the screen and put the phone to her ear.

"Hello, Principal Wells. Yeah. Um, well I'm not on campus right now. Uh-huh, I'm out with someone right now, near the lighthouse," Max was saying as she began to unconsciously pace, "Well, if tomorrow morning is okay I would be more than available to talk with you. I'd feel better if I knew what the talk was about, though. My suspension? Ohh, uh-huh. Right, well okay, I'll see you tomorrow at 9am. Have a good evening, Principal Wells." Max swiped her phone off, ending the call, and looked at Chloe in exasperation.

"Some of the girls on my floor have threatened to stop attending classes if my suspension isn't lifted in time for Monday," Max explained, "Thank you, Alyssa."

"Max Caulfield, using the power of the people! Price-Caulfield 2016!" Chloe said, raising her joint like she was toasting at a fancy dinner.

"Oh, Price-Caulfield?" Max said, sliding next to Chloe in the bench, "But who wields the 'power of the people'?"

"Hey, I'm down with the people. So long as they're not assholes and asshats," Chloe states, taking a long drag. She offers to Max, who vehemently declines.

"No. Once was enough. Besides, I probably get enough contact high from being near you to make two full-grown adults mildly stoned."

"Ass."

"Stoner."

"Hippie."

"Punk-ass."

Chloe looked at Max with fake shock at the last word, then blew her pot smoke into a ring and in Max's direction.

"Jump my hoop, bitch."

"I'll jump you, if you don't stop. Dork," Max retorted, leaping from the smoke ring before it could come into contact with her, "I could rewind and blow a ring in your face."

"...Max, what have you done with your power that I don't know?" Chloe asked as they resumed their walk toward the lighthouse.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, have you done anything really crazy? Have you rewound conversations that...that you have had with me?"

"For you? The diner with the predicting the future was with you, but aside from that I've only rewound time to save your ass. I don't need to rewind time to talk to you, and if you ever thought I had done so I figure I would've already heard about it."

"Still, there had to have been more than one occasion..."

"Yesterday in the truck was definitely one."

"I know, Max. I'm sorry."

Max stopped walking and put her hand on Chloe's shoulder. "You already apologized for that, Che. And I accepted your apology. Move forward in time, remember?"

"I'm trying, Max," Chloe said as they approached the lighthouse. Chloe looked out along the horizon line, noticing how the dark the sky looked. Max took her hand and together they walked to the lighthouse.

The door was heavy, and wouldn't budge. Max couldn't decide if the door was locked or just too big to move. She pushed at it and heard a creak, but didn't feel the door give. Chloe, meanwhile, was trying to pick the lock. Max watched her for a moment, then smiled wryly as the tumbler in the door's lock went _click_ and the door gave under the push of both Chloe and Max. The heavy door hit a door-jam built into the floor and stopped half-open. Sliding inside, Max looked up to see the spiraling staircase hugging the wall of the lighthouse, the wooden floorboards in the center space looking old and well-worn. Max pulled out her camera and took a quick shot, then one of Chloe starting to climb the stairs. Chloe looked at her with a slightly irritated expression, to which Max replied with "Mystery and Intrigue! It's all elementary, my dear Price."

The first floor, if you could call it that, showed signs of activity. Beer bottles and pot roaches were scattered across the floor. Max was too grossed out to pick them up, but Chloe looked at some of the bottles and sniffed the bottles' mouths. While her facial expression after each bottle was mostly one of disgust, a couple made her raise an eyebrow in thought. Looking up after poking some of the pot roaches with a stick she found, Max answered Chloe's thoughtful expression with a quizzical one.

"Chlo?"

"Some of this booze hasn't entirely gone bad, and some of the beer is one of those fucking microbrews the Vortex Club like to drink. I only know because Rachel drank the same shit, and tried to make me drink it," Chloe answered, kicking a couple of the bottles around while looking lost in thought.

"So, this is also a Vortex hangout? Wow, they must consider it trendy because it isn't mainstream."

"I thought that was the territory of hipsters, Max, like you."

"Ha ha, Che. I know I'm a hipster, but I'm not that cliched. Save yo' drama for yo' mama."

Chloe snorted, and the two poked at the contents on the floor for a few more minutes before heading up to the next level. The wind had picked up a bit outside, Max could hear it coming up against the exterior of the lighthouse. She felt her breath start to catch in her throat, and felt Chloe's hand on her forearm. Calming. Reassuring. _Chloe_. Nodding, Max took a deep breath and continued up the stairs with Chloe now guardedly walking behind. Chloe didn't like seeing Max like this, tense and anxious. Especially when it came to her powers and the fucking tornado Max says is coming. _This wind can't be fucking helping. This is all hella screwed up,_ Chloe thought.

The next floor they were on yielded nothing, initially. Dusty boxes and what looked like old fishing nets were strewn across the space. Chloe poked around while Max tried to calm down, the wind outside only making things worse for Max. Max joined Chloe when her attempts at calming breaths didn't result in anything, exploring the small storage space to distract her from the wind outside. The dust on the boxes was thick. _It's like frosting on a really shitty cake_ , Max thought, _and all I want to do right now is sneeze. And maybe curl into a ball._ Sighing, Max almost didn't notice the small object between two boxes that was reflecting the light off of a nearby floodlight. Max reached down, but the small crack was too small for Max's hand. Pulling out her phone, Max used the thin electronic device to slowly drag the item out of the crack.

"Chloe?" Max called out, hesitantly. She knew what it was the second she saw it out of the crack.

"What is it, Max?" Chloe asked, then froze. In Max's outstretched hand was Rachel's feather earring. The clue they had been looking for was found, for better or worse.


	3. Chapter 3

Chloe felt her legs start to shake. She braced herself against the wall, but it felt like the world was slipping away. The room started to spin, and she felt her body held up by something. Opening her eyes wide and shaking her head as if to wake herself up, she looked down to find Max using herself to prop Chloe up. Chloe just looked at Max and felt her eyes begin to water, fighting to not start sobbing. Max led Chloe to one of the smaller boxes and perched Chloe on top with herself as a steadying force to keep Chloe upright. _She looks like she's going to fall apart. Che..._ , Max thought, wrapping herself around Chloe as she started to choke back sobs.

"Che, this doesn't mean anything bad happened. It's an earring, not the end," Max said, trying to sound as comforting as possible. Chloe just nodded mutely and continued choking back sobs.

"I-I know, Max, I know. It's j-just that...this feels like it m-makes everything real. Before, it felt like we were the H-Hardy Boys or some shit like that. Solving a mystery, what the fuck was I thinking? For all we know, she's somewhere in the ground!" Chloe said, at last letting the sobs come.

Max held on to Chloe like a vice, wiping away her own tears with a shirt sleeve. Rachel Amber's whereabouts had been one of the main things keeping Chloe going; the ambiguity before this kept her afloat. Now, Chloe was crashing. Hard. Max began humming a quiet rhythm, rocking Chloe gently as she continued crying. The sobs turned hoarse after a few minutes, leaving some shaking and the occasional sniffling as Chloe took in short gasps of air. _I don't know what to do,_ Max thought, _C'mon Caulfield, think!_ " Max let go for a second, to see if Chloe could stay upright, and when she was satisfied Max went back to poking around the floor they were on. After a few minutes, Max saw Chloe slowly get up and pull out a joint. Max saw Chloe look at the joint for a minute or two, then stuff it back in her pocket and resume searching around. Max let out a quiet sigh of relief and turned back to where she was looking. Baggies, beer bottles, and pot roaches were everywhere; the place was like the mecca of the "Dazed and Confused" to Max. Looking at a group of boxes lined up against the wall, Max saw some graffiti poking out behind a box.

"-than, Vic, and Rach give Hell their regards," Max said aloud, trying to pull the box out to read the rest of the graffiti. She already guessed that the first word was _Nathan_ , but she wanted to see if there was anything else behind the box, maybe boxes. Max heard Chloe come up to her from behind, sniffing loudly.

"What'd you find, Max?" Chloe asked, looking at the interrupted scrawl of graffiti. Scowling, Chloe brushed her hand against it. "This is Rachel's work. Look, it's the same as at the junkyard. Fuck, Rachel, what were you into?" Chloe mumbled something, Max heard the word "Frank", and Chloe proceeded to grab the box Max was failing on and pull it out in a single, teeth-gritting tug. Panting for a couple seconds, Chloe leaned over and braced her hands on her knees, then stood back up and shared a worried look with Max.

"The end is the beginning, and Arcadia Bay is the end of it all. Nathan, Vic, and Rach give Hell their regards," Max and Chloe read aloud together. Max's face became quizzical while Chloe just looked at the writing through slitted eyes. Kicking the box she'd just moved, Chloe let out a frustrated growl and ran up the stairs to the last level and the exit out to the lighthouse's rooftop. Max ran after her, worried and anxious that Chloe might do something stupid. _Now she's on a warpath. Wowsers, Rachel, who were you?_ When Max reached the last floor, she heard the hatch in the ceiling slam shut, and felt a pang of dread hit her stomach at full force. Scrambling up the ladder as fast as she could, Max hefted the hatch and felt it give easily. Looking up, Max saw Chloe squatted down by the hatch, holding it open for Max to come through. Max's thankful grin must've not been the wanted response because Chloe huffed, stood up, and leaned against the railing. _Shit shit shit_ , Max thought, then sighed and went to join Chloe at the railing.

"Y'know, when we started this search for Amber together I hella thought we stood a chance of finding out the truth. A fucking _chance_ at explaining everything, but the more we find out the less I want to know, Max. First Frank, and now her buddy-buddy bullshit with the Vortex fuckers?! I can't fucking win, Max! I'm losing everything!" Chloe yells, slamming her palms against the railing. Max tries to take one of Chloe's hands, but Chloe brushes her outstretched hand away.

"What haven't you told me, Max? Are there secrets you keep, too? Are you living a double-fucking-life?! I j-just can't seem to get or do or _be_ anything right!" Chloe follows the last statement with a scream. She smashes her fist against the railing _hard_ , and for a second doesn't say anything. Then, looking slightly begrudged, she takes her now-bruising fist into her other hand. Max hesitantly reaches out toward Chloe's injured hand, and for a second Chloe pulls back. _Her instinct is to always pull back. From me, Joyce, everybody. She's an island of Chloe in a fuck-it-all world,_ Max thinks to herself as Chloe looks at Max with a cautious, wounded expression.

"Che, Chloe, let me see your hand," Max says, trying to sound neutral. She doesn't know if she should be compassionate or forceful. _Chloe's the one who is a force of nature._

Chloe looks down for a moment, like she's thinking it over, then sighs forcefully and surrenders her bruised hand. Max cradles it gently in her hands, making sure not to press too hard or turn the hand too much. Max hears Chloe wince a couple times, but doesn't feel any broken bones. At least, she thinks she doesn't.

"I can't be sure, but I think you just bruised it really bad," Max says quietly, releasing Chloe's hand. Chloe shoves her hand into her jacket and lets out a slight cry of pain before looking at Max. Her expression is now one of concern, realizing what she had said to the one she loved.

"Max. You know...you know I was just bitching in general, right? I don't think you have a fucking agenda or anything, right? Chloe says, trying to look Max in the eye. Max, her head turned slightly away from Chloe, looks at Chloe from the corner of her vision.

"Che, if I had any secrets the only other person who I would tell is you. I've fired a gun and helped commit crimes for you. I've risked both our lives right alongside you. You know my secrets, because I shared doing them with _you,_ " Max says, poking Chloe in the chest when emphasizing the " _you_ " part. Max tilts Chloe's head down and gingerly kisses her on the cheek, then brushes some of Chloe's hair out of her face. Chloe's eyes twinkle for a moment, then sadden again.

"What does this all mean, Max?" Chloe asks, her voice betraying her desperation.

"I legit do not know," Max says, looking out to the coastline, "Maybe we will never get a straight answer. Maybe...wait, who's that?"

Max and Chloe squint as the see someone approaching from the path down to the street level. He's carrying his backpack like it's full of something secretive, darting his head back and forth but not bothering to look up. He walks toward the shed and pulls something out of his pocket, a key to unlock the door. When he looks behind him, Chloe gets a good enough look and begins to seethe.

"Nathan- _fucking-_ Prescott."

Max couldn't keep up with Chloe as she sprinted down the stairs. Chloe was practically leaping the staircase, and Max had never seen Chloe move so fast before. _Ever._ Mental images of all the possible outcomes swirled through her mind, and Max was terrified of how many times she might have to rewind whatever was about to happen. The bathroom at Blackwell came back to mind and she nearly choked as the image of Chloe falling to the floor, dead, played out in her head on repeat. Shaking her head, Max started to vault the stairs by twos, trying to catch up.

"-fucking explaining to do, rich boy!" Max heard Chloe shout as she made it out of the lighthouse. Nathan Prescott, clutching his backpack desperately, was backed up against the wall of the shed. The door slightly open, Max squinted but couldn't see anything in the blacked-out shed. _The Dark Room...?_ , Max thought, then shifted her focus back to Chloe and Nathan. Nathan looked like he was almost rabid, his expression wild and angry with his posturing looking like that of a cornered animal. He tried to run past Chloe a couple times, but the taller woman's height gave her a slight advantage.

"Fuck off, you fucking bitch!" Nathan blurted, baring his teeth, "I'll fucking sue your ass if you so much as touch me! And I'll _win!_ " At "touch", Chloe returned the bared teeth, then reached into the small of her back. _Chloe, no!_ Max thought as she realized what Chloe had tucked away. Nathan dropped his backpack in horror as Chloe Price held her stepfather's revolver to Nathan's face.

"You say that, you fucking _say that_ , when you nearly shot me only a few days ago?! You could have killed me, you psycho fuckwad! I should kill you right now, relieve Arcadia Bay of some _hella_ misery!" Max watched the hammer of the gun begin to pull back and felt her hand instinctively outstretch, then, _vibrate._ A slight hum began to fill her ears and she thought she was about to freeze time again when Chloe stopped, lowered the gun, and turned to look at Max.

"Max, what the fuck did you do?" Chloe asked incredibly. When Max looked at the unfroze Chloe in shock, she then looked at Nathan.

Nathan was frozen. In time.

"I-I couldn't let you kill him, Chloe. It would've gone only horribly for you, so I was going to...to rewind back and take the gun when you would not have noticed," Max said, flexing her hand. The hand felt like it was asleep, but other than that was fine, but the quiet hum continued like a bee was near her head. Max instinctively swatted her hand around her head, then rolled her eyes. _Hella time bee, Max. Swat the time bee, dumbass._

Chloe looked at Max with a serious expression, then down at the handgun. Chloe cradled the gun in her hand as she looked back at Nathan Prescott, then back at the gun. _So much fucking misery, you asshole, and the girl who stood up to you tries to save your goddamn life. Bow to her power, because it is all that saved you._ Max watches as Chloe walks to the cliffside, empties the bullets from the gun, and tosses it all as hard as she can. Before Max can even say anything Chloe is walking past her furiously toward Nathan, and snatches the backpack up. Opening the backpack up without uttering a single word, Chloe dumps the contents onto the ground. Max begins to hear the hum diminish, and puts two and two together.

"Chloe, I think he's going to snap out of it!" Max said quickly, pointing at Nathan as he seemed to shimmer, like the air around him was vibrating.

"Do the thing again!" Chloe said as she looked up from examining the contents.

"I don't know how I did it the first time!" Max outstretches her hand, then feels a pop behind her right eye. Chloe looks up at Max, and stumbles as she runs over to the smaller woman.

"Max, your fucking eye is beet red, like every blood vessel popped at once! Are you okay?!" Chloe asked fearfully, cradling Max's face in her hands. Max nodded and pointed over Chloe in the direction of Nathan Prescott. Chloe nodded and ran back to the contents of the backpack. Hurriedly, Chloe stuffed everything in the backpack, but kept a hold of it. Stepping back to stand beside Max, the two watched as the shimmering stopped and Nathan raised his hands to shield his face. Looking past his upraised hands, Nathan peered at the two women and saw that Chloe was holding his backpack.

"Fuck, give that back!" Nathan barked, running toward Chloe. Max sidestepped Nathan along the way and tripped him up, Nathan falling to his knees. Nathan looked up and saw the two women standing over him from just beyond arm reach, his head repeatedly turning to face the both.

"What is in this fucking pack, Jack?" Chloe asks as she unzips the top pocket. Nathan's eyes dart to Chloe, then Max. Almost pleadingly, but not enough to give the taller of the two pause. Chloe leans down, still out of reach, and with a grin replies.

"Blow me."

Turning the bag upside-down, _again,_ the three watch the contents cascade from the pack. Drug bottles, a fifth of some alcohol, a bunch of crumpled paper, and a small photo book fell to the ground. Nathan tried to reach out to his belongings, but was stopped by Chloe stepping hard on his outstretched hand. Max, cautiously, picked up the photo book and flipped it open. She dropped it just as quickly and looked at Nathan with a look of horror and disgust.

"What the fuck did you do to Kate, you asshole?" Max said angrily, walking over to Nathan so fast that neither Nathan or Chloe had time to respond. Nathan cursed under his breath as Max took one of her feet and pushed Nathan's head onto the ground. "Did you rape her?! _Did you goddamn rape her_?!"

Chloe snatched the photo book up and leafed through it, then cringed when looking back at Nathan. _Fucking hell, what are you?_ Chloe thought as she dropped the book like it was diseased.

"N-no, I didn't rape her! We...we just had some fun!" Nathan said, desperation seeping into his voice.

"She's fucking naked with her eyes rolled into the back of her head! That doesn't look like fun, asshole!" Max shouted, seeing Kate's forlorn face overlapping with Nathan's creepy leer. She had seen that leer directed toward her before, but now she knew something of the mind behind it. It terrified her, and she fought to not throw up. Nathan tripped Max up, seeing the opportunity, and before Chloe could intervene was sprinting down the path. Visibly torn, Chloe looked down at Max and then over in the direction Nathan had ran. Silently deciding, Chloe helped Max to her feet, a small trickle of blood coming from Max's forehead and trickling down her face. Cupping Max's face with her hands like before, she kissed Max's puke-covered mouth and brushed her hair out of her wound.

"You were so hella brave, Sweetie. So goddamn heroic," Chloe said, rubbing Max's cheek with her thumb. Max grabbed Chloe's hands and held them.

"But Nathan-"

"Fuck him. We've got him, don't you see? We have proof, that he did something to Kate at least. Who knows what the fuck else he did, maybe a hella lot more. But we've got _something_."

Max just closed her eyes and nodded, then wiped the vomit off her face with her unraveled sleeve. Looking at the sleeve, she tore it off and then the other, Wrapping her hand in the unspoiled sleeve, Max placed everything back in pack, and zipped it tight. Holding the pack with her covered hand, Max looked at Chloe and nodded with a grim smile.

" _Now_ we have something."

The drive after Max and Chloe got back to the truck was eerily quiet, both women speechless as recent events culminated in their minds. Max didn't know who to trust with the pack, but Chloe said she knew of someone who would do everything possible with the pack and its contents "Someone with a say. Maybe," was all Chloe said the entire drive. Max was so blindsided by what happened that she didn't even notice where they were headed until they were in the Blackwell parking lot. Max looked at Chloe in confusion, but Chloe wasn't paying attention to Max. Taking the pack from Max's hands, Chloe exited the truck and started to run toward the main building with Max following after her. Max saw Chloe stop in front of someone before she could catch up, then realize that Chloe was talking to David, her step-dad.

"David, we need to see you and Principal Wells. Like, time now," Chloe said, almost out of breath. David looked like he was a mix of pissed and confused, his expression only darkening when he saw Max approach. Before he could open his mouth, Chloe put her hand on his shoulder.

"David. This is really, _really_ important. We need to talk to you two _now_."

Max stood behind Chloe awkwardly, then felt Chloe take her hand. Max looked up at Chloe and saw that she was still looking at David. David eyed Chloe down, then saw the backpack and knew whose it was. He looked at the two of them, then his eyes widened when he saw the cut across Max's forehead. Nodding curtly, David escorted Chloe and Max inside.

The hallway was empty, class in-session, as the David, Chloe, and Max made their way into the administration waiting room. Chloe's hold on Max's hand tightened as David spoke in hushed tones to the secretary. Not waiting for an answer, David walked to Principal Wells' office and ushered the two young women inside.

"Mr. Madsen, what are you...Miss Price? Max? Max, what happened to your head?" Principal Wells said as he came around from his desk to look at the smaller woman, his hand hesitant to touch the bruise forming over Max's eyebrow.

"I'll get the first aid kit, Principal Wells. I think...I think these girls have something to show you," David said as he closed the door behind him.

Principal Wells gestured for Chloe and Max to take the seats in front of his desk, and looked at the backpack Chloe was carrying.

"Never-nevermind that you're not exactly welcome on this campus, Miss Price, but what are you doing with what looks like Nathan Prescott's bookbag?" Principal Wells asked, his tone cautious.

"See for yourself," was all Chloe said as she tossed the bag over the desk and into Wells. The principal caught the bag and, almost cringing, opened the bag up. He stuck his hand inside the bag and began pulling out the drug bottles, noticing that some of them had no label. Sighing, Wells dug further in...and found the photo book. Looking at Max and Chloe, Wells opened the book and dropped it at almost the same time.

"Jesus Christ," was all Wells could say, repeating the phrase a couple more times.

"Yeah, not our reaction, but pretty damn close," Chloe spat. Wells looked up at Chloe and gingerly picked the photo book off the floor.

"What the-, for fuck's sake," Wells said as he carefully looked over each photo before closing the book and placing it on his desk. Wells looked up at Max and Chloe with an angry expression on his face. "How did you two come into possession of all this?"

"We cornered him at the lighthouse, Sir," Max blurted out, "He was acting strange and clutching the bag like he was hiding something. We thought it might be something dangerous, so we snatched the bag from him." Max looked at Chloe, an unsure expression on her face. Wells sighed, then shook his head.

"I've covered Nathan Prescott's ass for drugs, for fights. This? This is a shitstorm, and I'll be damned if he gets away with this," Wells said evenly. Keying in his secretary, Wells looked at Chloe and Max. "Do you two have somewhere you can go for the next couple of days? You're not going to want to be around for this. Hell, I don't. But I will."

"Max can crash with me," Chloe said, leaning forward and taking Max's hand. Wells looked at the held hands and nodded, then gestured for them to leave. Max and Chloe heard "-the police. Yes, get me the goddamn police, damn it!" as they left the office, then the waiting room, and finally the school.

"Pack as fast as you fucking can, Max. He could pop up here with God knows what," Chloe said hurriedly as the two nearly broke Max's door down while running to her room. Nodding quickly, Max began to stuff clothes into a small duffel bag, then her laptop. She went fishing through her drawers, Chloe standing guard in the doorway, looking frantically at the main entrance to the floor. Hearing a zipping sound, Chloe turned quickly to see Max slinging the bag over her shoulder. The two ran down the hall, not even bothering to close Max's door, when David came through the entrance. He signaled them to follow him and, quietly, David led Chloe and Max through the boys' dormitory to avoid the dorm courtyard. Max could hear shouting coming from outside, manic shouting. _Wowsers, this is all so hella crazy!,_ Max thought, _Will I even be coming back here?_

"David, what the hell is going on outside?" Chloe whispered as they slowly made their way out the side entrance and into the breezeway. David looked toward the dorm courtyard, then past the main courtyard into the parking lot.

"You couldn't have parked-, nevermind. Nathan Prescott was caught by the principal trying to sneak back into the main building. We chased him down to outside the girls' dormitory, and two of my guys have him pinned to ground. The police are on their way. Look, Chloe, don't go home. Here," David said, reaching into his pocket. David pulled out $200 and stuffed it into Chloe's free hand, "You two take this and find somewhere safe to lay low. The Prescott's will be looking for heads, and we're going to need you safe and secure for this to go straight down the line. This isn't an order, Chloe, but I really need you to do this."

Chloe stuffed the cash into her pocket, then touched David on the shoulder for a moment in thanks before dragging Max behind her as fast as their legs would allow.

The main courtyard was starting to fill with confused-looking students, made even more confused by the sight of Chloe and Max dashing past and into the parking lot. Their feet barely touched the pavement and Chloe and Max jumped into Chloe's truck and peeled out of the parking lot, driving as fast as they could without drawing attention. Chloe slowed down to within the speed limit after a block, both women watching as police cars passed them by on the way to Blackwell Academy. Chloe looked over at Max, and Max nearly snorted in surprise at Chloe's look of pure elation.

"We did it, Max! _We got Nathan-fucking-Prescott!_ " Chloe began to tap her hands on the steering wheel like it was a bongo drum, "Do you know what this means?!"

"A hella lot of change is coming to Arcadia Bay," Max answered, her mouth widening in a huge grin.

"That's just the start! Who knows what else that shit has going on? Fucking retard, who even keeps that shit _on them_?"

"A creeper."

Chloe broke into laughter, nearly driving the truck off the road. Max joined her in laughing, and for a few minutes Arcadia Bay and the world ceased to be. Chloe and Max were isolated in their shared moment of happiness. Once the laughing died down, Max looked over at a sobered Chloe.

"Where are we going to go, Che?"

"First my place, because I need to pack some shit too. Then, who knows? We have two grand left, but we can't give away that we _actually have it._ There's a bed and breakfast on the other side of town. My mom and dad stayed there once for a weekend as an anniversary present to each other. It's isolated in some woods."

"Does the bus lead somewhere close by? I feel like the truck makes us a sitting duck. No offense."

"No, that's quick thinking. Max-fucking-Caulfield, Max-a-roon! The wo-man with the plan! I'll stock up at my place, we'll leave the truck and catch the bus, then walk the rest of the way. It's like, pssh, maybe a half-mile...?"

Max nodded, then slouched into the cab's seat. She was tense, yet somewhat relaxed at the same time. _We got him, Kate, we got him._ Pulling out her phone, Max began texting Kate when Chloe grabbed her phone.

"Che, what the fu-"

"No messages, Max. We are on silent running. Can't give any clues to what we know or where we are. The peeps who _need_ our numbers, David and Wells, have them. Soon, so will the police." Chloe got quiet at that.

"...Chloe, what's wrong?" Max was puzzled at Chloe's sudden blank expression.

"Max...what if Nathan did something with Rachel, too? Kate...she looked..."

"Then he'll get the extra-crispy treatment when he's escorted to the gates of Hell," Max said, an edge to her voice. At the mention of Kate, the pictures she'd seen came flooding back into her mind. _Goddamn you, Nathan Prescott. If there is a God, I hope he smites your ass multiple fucking times._

Chloe looked over at Max. "Shit. All this revelry and your head is all fucked up. You look like you went through a war, Mad Max. Remind me to steer clear of your Thunderdome," Chloe said, chuckling at the end.

"Nu-uh, you are welcome in my Thunderdome anytime," Max said, then paused when she thought of how Chloe might take that. She'd meant as a joke, but she looked over at Chloe to find her face turning red.

"Uh, yeah. Haha, we're the queens of the world!" Chloe sputtered out in triumph, feeling incredibly awkward.

"That's not even _..._ ha, nevermind."

The truck pulled into the drive, then hopped it and nearly careened into the house. Exhaling her breath in a quick hiss, Chloe winced at the thought of her mom's reaction and got out of the truck.

"I'm going to pay for that, aren't I?" Chloe asked, looking at the inches between the house and her truck.

"You are totally going to pay for that," Max answered, trying not to laugh. Chloe looked at Max, then shrugged.

"Fuck it. C'mon, we need to move."

The stomping of feet was all that could be heard in the Price residence. Slamming the door to her room open, Chloe dumped the beer bottles and ash trays out of the suitcase beside her bed, then began sliding shirts from her dresser into the luggage. Max looked out the window onto the street while Chloe hastily grabbed her essentials, hoping they didn't draw the wrong kind of attention. Max took in a gasp of air when she saw a town car pull in behind Chloe's truck, and see a finely-dressed man step out of the driver's seat and onto the street.

"Shit, Chloe. I think Nathan's dad is here!"

"What?! Do...do something!"

Max took in a deep breath, and stretched out her hand. The vibrations didn't come, and instead Max felt that she was about to rewind time. Rewinding to just after they got inside, Max locked the door behind them, then hooked shut the deadbolt. Chloe turned to look at her.

"What are you doing? Hurry up!" Chloe said, then stopped at Max's expression, "Dude, what?"

"Get what you can faster than physically possible. We're about the have company of the Prescott kind."

"Shit shit shit fuck shit!" Chloe whispered as she ran upstairs, slamming her door open. Max looked out the peephole in the front door. _Nothing so far. We have a two minutes, maybe three._ Looking up the stairs, Max saw the door to Chloe's room shake slightly as Chloe barreled down the stairs, grinning wildly.

"This is so fucking cool!" Chloe exclaimed as they ran through the living room and outside into backyard. Max looked around as Chloe lifted the large wooden board they drew on as kids, revealing a hole in the fence. "Dude, this is hella like _Prison Break._ We are fucking fiends!"

Max giggled, then followed Chloe as they made their way through the hole and into the neighbor's yard. Running through random backyards, Chloe and Max began to slow down until they spotted a bus a block away. Nearly dropping their bags, they dashed with all they had left and flagged down the bus driver, a perplexed look on his face as he hit the brakes for the two crazed-looking girls sprinting toward his bus. Opening the door, he just looked at them with his mouth open in confusion.

"S'up?" Chloe said more than asked, gasping for breath as she took the seat next to Max in the front of the bus. Wiping sweat from her exposed forehead, Chloe took her beanie off and used it to wipe the rest of the sweat away. Looking over to Max, who was gingerly touching the bruised cut on her forehead, Chloe brushed Max's hands away and carefully placed the beanie on Max's head.

"Ew, this feels so soggy," Max said, then saw Chloe's face. "Well, it is," Max said, clamping the beaning onto her head with her hands as Chloe feigned taking the beaning back, then wincing as her hands smacked her forehead.

"Crybaby," Chloe joked, looking out the window. They had about ten minutes before the bus got as close to the bed and breakfast as it would go, "Max. Jesus fuck, Max."

"I know."

"This day is so fucking insane. Not was - _is._ Too fucking much, dude."

"We can decompress when we get situated. For now, we've just got to get there."

Chloe nodded, and the two sat on the bus in complete silence the entire time, fingers intertwined on the space between their seats. Some of the other passengers on the bus looked at the two young women in front, but nobody said anything. Finally, a little more than ten minutes later, the bus dropped off Chloe and Max near the outskirts of Arcadia Bay. The silence near the outside of town gave them pause, and they looked behind themselves for a moment before slinging their bags and walking toward what Chloe had dubbed their "New secret lair".

The woman at the desk didn't ask anything about the girls standing before her, just told them about the check-out time, wrote down that they had paid for three nights, and explained when meals were served. Thanking her in a shy voice, Max took the key to their suite and walked up the staircase next to the desk with Chloe behind her. Opening the door, Max and Chloe dumped their bags on the floor by the Queen-sized bed and collapsed onto it. Chloe, lying on her back, reached over and pulled the beanie all the way down onto Max's head.

"Pfff," Max mouthed as Chloe pressed the beanie further down, "Yer gnn ter et!"

"I have the money, so I can afford this," Chloe retorted, a wicked grin on her face.

"Ur mnney? Wh bit meh?"

"Aww, poor widdle Maxi-poo! Broke and alone in the world! Come to your sugar mama!" At that, Chloe pulled the beanie clean off and made to straddle Max.

"Are you trying to seduce me, Ms. Price?" Max asked, trying not to laugh. Chloe scowled and poked Max in the chest lightly.

"Yes, and obviously failing-"

Max reached up, pulling Chloe down by the collar of her jacket and pressed her lips into the girl straddling her. A pleased _Mmm_ came from the back of Chloe's throat, sounding to Max like a purr. Peeling her jacket off, Chloe broke the kiss and began to kiss Max slowly, more intensely, while cradling Max's face with her free hand while the other hand kept her upright. She made the purr-like noise when she felt Max start to fumble with the bottom of Chloe's shirt, and Max then made a pleased sound as she ran her hands across Chloe's stomach and slipped a few fingers underneath Chloe's bra. The two both moaned, then stopped and looked at each other with their lips still pressed together. The pose held for a moment before Chloe began to giggle and broke the kiss, moving to lie next to Max.

"I'm only easy for you, Max-a-roon, but you have to court this lady," Chloe said, placing the beanie back on her head.

"Wait. You're a lady? Holy shit!" Max said while laughing, to which Chloe grabbed a pillow and smacked her in the face. She immediately regretted it because when she pulled the pillow back Max was holding her forehead.

"Owww, shit. Che, you ass!" Max said, slapping Chloe's thigh. Chloe mouthed _sorry_ and got out of the bed. Holding her arms outstretched towards Max, she hoisted the bruised woman up.

"Let's get you cleaned up some, Max. You look like shit," Chloe said as they walked toward the bathroom. Max stopped when she looked down and saw Chloe's now-purple hand.

"Che, your hand-"

"It doesn't feel like anything is broke so I'll deal. Maybe they have one of those vending machines downstairs that sells the little packets of painkillers," Chloe said, shrugging as she lead Max into the bathroom. Sitting Max on the toilet lid, Chloe took one of the washcloths stacked neatly by the cast-iron bathtub and, wetting it down with warm water, began to carefully clean Max's face off.

Dabbing at the wound on Max's forehead, Chloe had to pause every now and then to look at Max. _Max Caulfield. Mad Max. My Max. Goddamn, if you'd told me the week was going to go like this beforehand I'd have said you're so full of shit there is a clone of you made out of crap. Look at this girl, geek-gone-bad. How'd you get so brave, so much more beautiful?_ Chloe's thoughts were interrupted by Max coughing awkwardly, looking into Chloe's eyes. With Chloe still dabbing at her forehead, Max slightly leaned toward Chloe and gave her a light kiss on the nose, eliciting a flustered huff from Chloe.

 _It's the little things_ , Max thought, _The way she takes care of me. The way she holds me, stands behind me when she knows I can make her safe. The looks she gives me when she thinks I'm not watching. This dorky, punk girl is hella cute._ Max grinned when breaking the kiss off, thinking humorously how much Chloe had rubbed off on her. _How much have I rubbed off on Chloe?_ Max wondered.

Moving on from the wound, Chloe re-soaked the washcloth and began to wipe Max's face and neck off slowly, retouching places where she didn't get everything. Max sat there in contentment, when a thought crossed her mind.

"Chlo?"

"Mmm?" Chloe looked up from cleaning Max's face.

"Uh, we have a tub."

Chloe paused, then looked at the tub. Standing up, she dropped the soiled, slightly bloodied washcloth into the sink and pointed at Max with a bossy expression.

"Strip."

The two women were silent as they peeled off their clothes. They stood in front of each other for a moment, examining the other woman's body, before hugging each other tightly, nibbling on each other with light kisses. Their hands met, intertwined, then separated as Max ran her hands across Chloe's stomach, to the small of her back, and with a hesitation grabbed Chloe's ass.

"Woo, Caulfield!" Chloe said, surprised, "And here I was thinking you were, mmm, new to the ways of the world!"

"I am new," Max said as she looked up from kissing between Chloe's breasts, smirking, "but that doesn't mean I'm not...exploring."

"Explore your ass into that tub before the water gets cold!" Chloe said, slapping Max's ass as hers was squeezed by Max in return.

"There's more water." Max said, letting go of Chloe's ass and putting a hand on one hip, "Dork."

Max was caught off-guard when Chloe turned to face Max, her puppy eyes looking at Max with pleading.

"Che, what is it?" Max asked, concerned and confused as to what was going on.

"Splish splash?" Chloe said, pulling Max toward the tub as she climbed in.

The water went up to their necks, bubbles and calming aroma filling the remainder of the tub. Max's head was only above water because she was reclining on Chloe's lap, Chloe hold Max around the waist, their eyes closed and their expressions peaceful. Max opened her eyes lazily and looked up at the ceiling.

"Crazy goddamn day."

"Mmm."

"What happens tomorrow?"

"Mmm, asks the walking TARDIS _."_

Max took a handful of suds and turned enough to sit them on top of Chloe's head. Chloe raised an eyebrow.

"I'm serious, Che. We're like fugitives, minus the illegality."

"Well, I don't know about _all_ the illegality..."

"The shit that matters, Chlo. Nobody knows about the money, for which I am so thankful, and they only _think_ we were the ones who broke into the pool."

"They know about the pool?"

"You smelled like chlorine until about 15 minutes ago and your hair dye is fading, _chica_."

Chloe instinctively put a hand on her head, then grinned bashfully. Max turned back to face forward and leaned her head back into Chloe's shoulder. Chloe nibbled gently at Max's neck while rubbing her hands up and down Max's chest and stomach, then held Max and sighed.

"This water is getting cold, Max-a-roon. I'm out," Chloe said, trying to get out from under Max. She huffed in fake petulance as Max clamped her hands onto the tub's sides. Grinning, Max leaned forward and then thrust herself back, hitting Chloe in the face with a small wave of cooling bath water.

"Urgh, you evil love monkey! You will suffer the wrath of Chlo!" Chloe cried you, shaking a fist in the air. Placing her hands on the top of Max's head, Chloe dunked her into the bath then immediately let go. Max came up sputtering and giggling.

Max got out of the tub and wrapped herself in a bathrobe, heading into the small living space that was attached to the bedroom. Grabbing a soda from the mini-fridge, Max turned around to see Chloe heading toward her, naked. Taking the seat next to Max, Chloe leaned over to the fridge and grabbed a soda as well, then patted the cushion next to her on the couch. Max curtsied, a smirk on her face, and took the seat next to Chloe. Opening Max's soda, Chloe popped her own can open and they sat in peaceful silence while sipping on their beverages. Setting her soda down, Max leaned into Chloe and closed her eyes, her face one of complete tranquility.

 _She deserves it_ , Chloe thought. _We've been through Hell_ , _and now we get our due._ Looking toward the window, Chloe became contemplative. _Rachel, I don't know what the fuck happened to you. Maybe I never will. I need to be happy, and I am._ Chloe felt the drowsiness slowly wash over her as the can slipped from her hand and she fell asleep with Max in her arms.

"Fuck...," Chloe mumbled, unable to fight off the built-up exhaustion.

Max was the first to wake up the next morning. Brushing her teeth and examining her greenish bruise, she was glad the small gash seemed to be scabbed up. She winced as she gingerly poked the bruise, testing to see how squishy the area was. Shutting the light off, she tip-toed into the living area to see Chloe lying fast asleep on the couch. Max had woken up an hour ago, and had found that they were both wrapped up in the blanket from the bed. _Chloe must have done that. You get cold when you sleep naked, dork._ Taking her camera out of her camera bag, Max kneeled across from the couch and took a photo. Chloe mumbled incoherently and curled up when an exposed leg stretched out from under the blanket. Grinning sheepishly, Max walked to her duffel bag and changed into her usual attire. As she put the light jacket on, she took Chloe's beanie from the nightstand across the bed and put it on. Taking her laptop out, quietly, Max sat cross-legged on the bed with her earbuds plugged in. Max opened up her music folder and started some music while flipping through her Facebook and the local news.

Dana and Juliet had plastered her wall with questions, Alyssa asking a few herself. Everybody wanted to know where she was, and if she had anything to do with Nathan being arrested. She looked at Chloe and remembered the "Radio Silence" policy. Changing tabs, Max looked at the local newsfeed. Every article seemed to involve "Prescott", "Arrest" or "Arrested", and "Controversy". _Principal Wells must not have released Kate's name to the press for the pictures. Thanks be to Dog. Wowsers, the Prescotts are already mentioning lawyers. Haha, Nathan sounds like a goddamn crazy person when the reporters question him outside the police station. Gun? What gun, good sir? Thar be no gun here, arr._ Looking over at Chloe, Max hoped that the gun wouldn't be found. It was a role-reversal of the bathroom, Chloe with that gun. _But my Che turned herself around, didn't shoot Nathan._ _Hella love, Che, hella-fucking-love._ Max was so absorbed in the news articles that her phone startled her. Pulling the pinging device from her pocket, she swiped it open and looked at all the message notices. She almost opened the Warren tab, but opted to do that later. Puzzled, she saw Chloe had sent her a message, the tab changed to "Che". Opening the message tab, Max looked at the screen.

Che: Max, I'm dying.

Max: WTF?

Che: Dyeing Max.

Max: Uh...

Che: Max, I dyed. I am dyed.

Max: What? Dyed? This isn't funny.

Che: We're in the same room. Look up, spaz!

Max's head shot up and she fell back as she saw Chloe peeking from the end of the bed, crouched down so only her eyes and all-blue hair were visible.

"Oh, you fucker!" Max cried out, trying to sit back up. Chloe grabbed Max's feet before she could get situated back at her laptop, pulling her toward her into a tender kiss. Max fought for a few seconds, then surrendered to the kiss, sliding her tongue into Chloe's mouth. Chloe returned with her own tongue for a moment, then broke the kiss off and took a seat next to Max. She was wearing the bathrobe Max had used, blue hair dye staining the collar in odd places.

"What's the stitch?" Chloe asked, hovering next to Max as she read off the screen. "Dude, Nathan looks hella pissed. Haha, what an asshole, already lawyered up!"

"Yeah, the news coverage is spreading pretty fast. I'm worried, though; eventually this is going to come back to Kate," Max said, pouting at the thought of Kate being pulled into the mess this whole situation was becoming.

"She'll have you. And you'll have me. We'll have our backs covered, Max. Fucking Prescotts are not getting away this time. Hey, what's that? Acoustic Doodle? Did you record your playing guitar, Max?" Chloe asked, trying to take off with the laptop. Max clamped the laptop shut, her face reddening to the color of her Jane shirt. Looking at Chloe, whose expression could be best defined as _Gimme!_ , Max opened the laptop slowly. Biting her lower lip, she scrolled the cursor over to the MP3 and double-clicked. Turning up the volume, she sat the laptop between her and Chloe as a guitar rhythm began to play. Max watched Chloe listen intently for a few seconds, then begin to nod her head with the beat. Getting up from the bed, Chloe went to the bathroom and closed the door. Sighing, Max also got off the bed, heading downstairs to get some food.

Max returned with two plates of pancakes and coffee on a tray when she paused at the door. _Is Chloe singing, to my guitar recording?_ Placing her ear to the door, Max listened in.

Walls become prison bars,

Build to hide my scars,

A heart torn and tested,

Lovelorn and dejected.

Is there any meaning

In continuing dreaming?

I don't really know

How to keep believing.

Then there's you

What you put me through;

Misery and memory

You took and returned a piece of me.

And I want to see this through,

Hand in hand with you

Tattoos numb the pain

Hide my skin

And bury it all away:

The words I never said,

The blood I freely shed,

Wishing I had fled...

Then there's you

What you put me through;

Misery and memory

You took and returned a piece of me.

And I want to see this through,

Hand in hand with you

You became the heart

To guide my soul.

You make me feel hope,

You make me feel whole

Misery and memory,

You were always a part of me

When I found you again I knew  
I want to see this through,

Hand in hand with you.

Max felt the tears fall down her cheeks, hearing the slight _splish_ as they went into the coffee. She must've started sniffling because the room became eerily silent after the last verse. Quietly, sounding incredibly bashful, she heard Chloe say "Come in, Max" and Max opened the door. Chloe was dressed in a _Black Flag_ t-shirt and ripped blue jeans, her combat boots still bedside as she wiggled her bare toes. Chloe was looking down at the floor, her expression unreadable. Max sat the tray down on the bed next to Chloe and knelt in front of her, taking her hands as she looked up into a teary face.

"Che...that was beautiful," Max said, speechless.

"...I've never sang in front of anybody before. I sing to myself sometimes, when I'm alone and think nobody can hear me," Chloe said, looking away from Max.

 _I interrupted something incredibly private. What the fuck did I do? Shit,_ Max thought. Chloe looked at Max's face and read her expression. She slid off the bed and sat in front of Max, cupping her face.

"Hand in hand, with you."

Author's Note - I wrote that song. It's simply titled "Chloe's Song". Hope you all enjoy, and I'll see you in Chapter 4.


	4. Chapter 4

_Max was looking at herself, and trying not to scream. Standing near one of the wrecked cars in the junkyard, Max saw herself from three days ago turn and look right at her._ What are you seeing? _Max wondered as her past self began to walk toward her. Running, Max ran past a tree and-_

 _The lighthouse loomed before her, but something was different. She didn't see herself; instead, she saw Chloe. Soaked in rainwater, Chloe could barely be heard over the howling wind._

 _"Max! Max, where the fuck are you?!"_

 _"...Here!"_

 _Max Caulfield looked over to see some other version of herself standing at the bench, warning Chloe to stay back. Chloe shook her head and started to make her way over to this...other Max, when she saw something come flying toward their general direction._

 _"Max, look-!"_

 _The rebar went through the other Max's chest, and with only a moment to register the shock, Max Caulfield watched Max Caulfield die just as Chloe reached her bleeding corpse. Covering her hand with her mouth, Max began to scream as Chloe cradled the other Max's still form, her eyes blank from the shock._

 _A lightning bolt hit the lighthouse, and Max watched as the top half came toward Chloe and the dead body._

Max woke up screaming, her eyes bloodshot as the vivid imagery of Chloe disappearing under the broken half of the lighthouse played out over her vision. Max quieted down when she looked down to see Chloe lying next to her, her eyes wide open in alarm.

"I know I snore, Max, but Jesus," Chloe joked, attempting to break Max's manic expression with humor.

Climbing out of the bed, Max went to the bathroom to splash water on her face. She then closed the sink's drain and, filling the sink up, dunked as much of her head as she could into the icy water. Pulling her head out of the cold water, Max flipped her hair back and grabbed a towel to dry herself off. Leaving the bathroom light on, she made to climb back into bed when she saw Chloe sitting upright, staring at her with a puzzled expression.

"Sorry, Che. Bad dream," Max lied. _A terrible fucking dream. Who dreams watching themselves die? God, am I losing my mind?_

 _"_ Oh no, Max. You don't get off that easy," Chloe said and was about to speak again when Max's phone went off. Grimacing, Max walked over to where her jeans lay on the floor and pulled out her phone. She hadn't even noticed the sunrise, that it was morning already. Normally, the sunrise would filter through the windows and blinds, playing together in a kaleidoscopic entanglement that drove Max to snapping a picture. Today, it was just a sunrise. Swiping her phone's menu on, Max saw that Principal Wells had sent her a text message. Face screwed up in perplexity, Max opened the message.

 **Private:** Max, this is Principal Wells. I know I said to get away for a couple of days, but I need yourself and Miss Price to come back here as soon as you possibly can. There's been a development, and I feel you two should be among the first to know. Also, I have contact your parents and they said they would in turn contact you shortly. Blackwell, ASAP.

"Are you fucking cereal?" Max asked aloud before tossing the phone to Chloe. Chloe re-read the message a couple times, then handed the phone back to Max and proceeded to get dressed.

"Should we leave our shit here?" Chloe asked, tying her boots. Both women were wearing the same clothes as yesterday. "Heh, kinda defeats the purpose of packing clothes," Chloe remarked, noticing their attire. While Max smiled briefly, her facial expression became grim.

"Development does not sound good. And yea, I think we should. We did pay for a couple more nights, after all," Max said as she opened the door. Closing the door behind herself as Chloe headed downstairs, Max looked out a nearby window. The clouds were beginning to darken. _Today is Friday_ , Max thought, _The storm is coming. And I don't know what to do._

The walk to the edge of town was quiet as Chloe and Max had their minds on other things than the road. The playful banter between them from yesterday had been replaced with a trepidation over what Wells wanted. For Max, there was a deep somberness about the oncoming storm. Max had actually not had any visions of the storm since the day she had received her powers, and never realized how thankful she should have been for such a break. _God. I can rewind time, freeze time, and freeze people in time. I didn't want this power - is the tornado the cost? Am I destroying Arcadia Bay, maybe reality?_ Max worried as she thought about the snow, the eclipse, and all the dead wildlife. Looking up, Max watched Chloe a couple paces ahead, a small smoke trail no doubt coming from a lit joint.

"Chloe, wait!" Max said as she jogged to catch up, "Your hella longer legs give me a disadvantage."

"Dude, it's not my fault you close to passing for a hobbit," Chloe says, blowing smoke rings as they walk, "You'd think with your time control you could rewind back to make yourself taller."

"And how would that work, exactly?"

"Fuck if I know. All I know is height advantage - Chloe," Chloe replied, grinning, "Heard anything else while you were trying to keep up with my 'hella longer legs'?"

"No. I'm dreading a call or text from my parents, to be honest."

At Max's mentioning of her parents, Chloe stopped and turned to face Max. Tossing the remains of her joint, Chloe was suddenly very serious.

"Max, when I saw you in the parking lot days ago, I felt my heart seize in my chest. I think I wrote you every day for those first few months after you left, but I never sent them. As I stopped writing less, the letters became angrier, and I tried to hate you for a while," Chloe said, looking up at Max to see if she was okay. Max just nodded and Chloe continued, "But I couldn't. So I buried you, pushed you away from my thoughts as far as you'd go. I didn't even think about you anymore, for a while. Then, my Mom lets me know that you would be coming back to Arcadia Bay, for Blackwell. Not me, Blackwell. I knew you had your reasons, and I tried to not get mad about it. Then, Rachel disappeared and the bottom came out of everything in me. And when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I make to speed out of the parking lot at Blackwell one day and find you staring at me from across the hood of my truck."

"Chlo...", Max said, her voice starting to break.

"Everything I had felt towards you, it all came up at once. I saw the little girl I made forts with, the girl who made pancakes with my family. And I saw the woman who'd left me behind. I'm not angry, Max. I'm broken. I don't know if I'll ever be able to trust, and I want to trust you so bad. I really, really do," Chloe finished, closing her eyes.

"W-what brought this out?" Max was stunned. Of course, she knew that Chloe had been incredibly hurt, but all this came out of nowhere.

"Getting a chance to breathe, Max, makes me look back at everything this week. And what happens after this week. Will you be staying in Arcadia Bay, or will your parents take you back to Seattle?" Chloe said, her hoarse and emptied.

"Chloe, I...," Max started. Chloe raised a hand.

"Don't. Let's just get this done. We can talk after, okay? I just needed to get that off my chest.

 _You hit me with all that now, and shelf it for later, Che? Crap, way to spin me the fuck around,_ Max thought as they reached the town limits, the lighthouse looming over Arcadia Bay.

The bus ride was uneventful, at least for Chloe and Max. All the passengers were abuzz with the Prescotts, Nathan's arrest and the quick move by his parents to lawyer-up. Max took out her camera a couple of times, snapping quick shots of anything that caught her eye. Chloe watched Max out of the corner of her eye, but said nothing. Just watched. Coming to a halt, the doors opened at the steps to the main courtyard of Blackwell Academy. Max thought about staying in the bus and continuing on the route, but climbed out when Chloe slid past her and waited at the bus stop with her arms crossed. Giving Chloe a sad look, Max followed her up the stairs to the courtyard.

The campus looked deserted. The ground showed signs of lots of people standing in clusters around the courtyard, small bits of trash blowing around in circles. Max bent down and looked at some of the indentations in the dirt, then up at Chloe.

"I think these came from cameras on tripods. The news?" Max said, a little uncertain.

"Makes sense why the campus would be so empty. Wells probably has the dormitories on lockdown. That, or they're somewhere around town," Chloe said as she continued on to the main building.

"...Don't push me away again, Che," Max blurted out, trying not to stutter. Chloe didn't seem mad, but was pretty sullen. _Please, don't push me away._ Chloe looked at her and a small smile briefly played across her face.

"I'm not, Maxima. We've just got shit to do. Like I said," Chloe pauses to kiss Max on the cheek," Later."

Max knocked lightly on the principal's door. The secretary was nowhere to be seen, and most of the lights in the school were off. Max wondered if Blackwell was just closed or if it had been shut down. The empty, dimly lit hall reminded her of abandoned strip malls she had seen in Seattle. Knocking again with a little more force, Max heard Principal Wells say "Come in" coming from the room beyond. Opening the door, Max and Chloe peered into the office. There was a strong smell of whiskey, and Principal Wells looked like he hadn't slept yet. Scratching at his unshaven face, Principal Wells gestured for Chloe and Max to take the seats opposite him. Moving out of his chair, Wells sat on the desk, directly in front of the two women. Chloe gave Max an anxious glance. _Shit, he looks like he's in fucking pain. This is going to be hella bad,_ Chloe thought as Wells cleared his throat.

"Max, Miss Price, I'm sorry to have to spring this on you so suddenly. I'd wait if I could, but I thought you'd want to be among the first to know. Like I said on the phone, there have been some developments. First, I would like to assure you that it is as safe as it can be for you both to return to Arcadia Bay. I spoke with your father, Max, and Mr. Madsen for you, Chloe - both men have requested restraining orders against the Prescott family. While I would have liked to have kept your identities secret as long as possible, Mr. Caulfield and Mr. Madsen both felt that protection under the law would be more beneficial in the long run," Wells said, pausing as he seemed to be measuring the weight of what he was saying.

"The law didn't do mu-," Chloe started but Wells looked at her, exhausted, "Um, sorry. Keep going."

"The other main thing I wished to discuss with you was the discovery of a small crawlspace that had been boarded off under the staircase in the boys' dormitory. When the campus security took down the boards hiding the space, we found a few more of...Jesus, we found more photo books," Wells finished the last bit like he had smelled something putrid. Going back behind his desk, Max and Chloe watched him pull out a flask and take a swig from whatever the contents were. Wells looked at them both, but didn't seem to care either way, "And, while some of the girls are no longer associated with Blackwell, I thought you should know Miss Price-"

"Whoa, _no. No._ I am not one of that creepy fucker's flip-books," Chloe said, shaking her head in denial as she backed herself out of the chair. Max took her hand, begged her to sit down. Chloe wore an anxious, fearful expression as Wells shook his head.

"You're not, Miss Price. But I believe that she was, is, a friend of yours. One of the books contained pictures of Rachel Amber."

Before Chloe could even react, Max was out of her chair and sitting on the arm of Chloe's, holding one of her hands with both of hers. Chloe looked dumbfounded. Something wasn't processing.

"I know you are the one posting all the missing person fliers, Miss Price, so I wanted to tell you this information in person. You shouldn't have to hear this from anyone else."

Chloe stood up, her expression unreadable, and just nodded. Turning around, Chloe left the principal's office, leaving Max awkwardly looking at Principal Wells. Wells took another swig and waved Max off, muttering a "Thanks" when she closed the door behind her. Max looked out the waiting room doorway; Chloe wasn't in the hallway. Looking out the glass doors leading outside, Max didn't see Chloe anywhere.

 _Please be here somewhere, Chloe. You shouldn't be alone for this, not now. I'm here, so please let me in._ Max searched the science lab and the photography lab, but Chloe was nowhere to be seen. Max was about to head to the classrooms further down the hall when her phone vibrated. Max swiped open the menu, and covered her mouth.

Che: I want to die, Max. Can I die?

Max, frantic, began to search all the other classrooms one at a time. Nothing. Chloe had never been in them

Che: Max, I don't want you to see this.

Che: Know that I do really love you. Forever.

Max panicked, and in that moment, rewound time instinctively to when Chloe left the principal's office. Making sure she was back in her seat before stopping the rewind, Max looked at Chloe's ashen face, her blank expression. She'd never seen Chloe so... _empty_. Resuming time, Max spun around and grabbed Chloe by one of her hands, startling Chloe.

"Max, please just-"

"Come with me. _Now._ "

Max's room had not been touched, save someone watering Lisa and making sure Kate's bunny had a carrot in his pen. The door closed and wedged shut by Max shoving a workbook under the door, Max sat next to Chloe on the bed, not saying anything. Max held Chloe in her small arms, listening as the bell outside rang for noon. The room was the only world Max existed in at the moment, Chloe the only other person in that world. Chloe had said nothing after she'd been grabbed by Max and dragged to the girls' dormitory, just clumsily let herself be led along. Once, Max's phone had vibrated and Chloe's had rang, but Max took both phones and tossed them out the open window. Chloe had looked at her, but said nothing. _The quiet would normally be peaceful_ , Max thought, _but right now my room is a mausoleum. I can't leave Chloe be, because Dog knows what she might do._ At that thought, Max squeezed her arms wrapped around Chloe's waist and leaned her head into the taller woman's shoulder. Chloe stared forward blankly, not reacting to Max's touch or anything else in the room, locked inside her own mind.

It was a few minutes after that Max began to rock Chloe slowly, humming just a random rhythm. She would brush a lose strand of hair out of Chloe's face and tuck it behind her ear. Every now and then, you'd hear quiet footsteps outside Max's door, but the "NO" on her slate pretty much ran them off. Max jumped a bit when Chloe coughed a little, trying to clear her throat.

"Do you want some water?" Max asked, her voice quiet and calm. She felt neither, but needed to put on a brave face for Chloe.

Chloe nodded dumbly and, hoisting Chloe and herself up together, Max pulled the workbook out from under the door with her foot and opened her door. The hallway was empty, muted sounds of the other girls coming from behind the closed doors. Max ran back into her room to grab an empty glass, and quickly caught Chloe as her legs began to buckle.

"Easy. Easy, Che. I'm here. C'mon, let's get some water. Yeah?" Max urged her on gently. Chloe only nodded and the two went to the bathroom. Max took some paper towels while Chloe sat on a toilet seat and wet them with water from the faucet where she'd filled her glass. Taking the glass in one hand and the towels in the other, Max walked into the stall Chloe was sitting in, kneeling in front of her. She tipped the glass against Chloe's slightly open lips, tilting it slowly until Chloe swallowed.

I'm just going to clean your face up, Che. Cool you down, okay?" Max dabbed at Chloe's face and neck with the paper towels, then went and got more. Max noticed that Chloe's breathing was becoming fuller, that she was taking deeper breaths. Max was using the seventh handful of paper towels when Chloe weakly raised her hands and held Max's. Max looked up into Chloe's eyes and saw all the pain, the grief, begin to rush past the numbness. Her eyes beginning to tear up, Chloe let her head fall into Max's now-standing belly as she silently sobbed for Rachel Amber.

"How is she?" Joyce asked over the phone.

Knocking on Dana's door once Chloe was done crying at that moment, Max had asked if she would go outside and get her and Chloe's phones. Max explained in brief what had happened to cause the phones to be outside, and Dana ran down the hall and out the door into the stairway. Walking alongside Chloe, still wrapping her arms around Chloe's waist, Max led her back into the dorm room. Leaving the door open for Dana to know it is okay to bring their phones, Max laid Chloe on the bed and curled up behind her. Holding Chloe around the waist, Max resumed her humming and nodded quietly in thanks when Dana came to her door with two cracked, but operable, phones. Climbing out of the bed, Max turned her phone on and called Joyce.

"It's pretty bad. I haven't left her side but she's barely responded to anything. I'm..I'm just keeping an eye on her, Joyce," Max said quietly as Chloe had fallen asleep in exhaustion.

"Do you want me to come over? I can, easily."

"You can if you want, but there isn't really much to do. I'm so fucking scared, Joyce."

"I know, sweetheart. You always cared about Chloe so much when you two were little, you'd get so upset when she'd get hurt. You're good for her, Max. I'll come by later, bring you and Chloe some food."

"Thanks," Max said before ending the call. Max sighed deeply, then stopped when she began to hear a slight humming. Max turned around and saw Chloe looking at Max, humming with a tired smile on her face.

"Hey, Max," Chloe said, her voice cracking from dryness and fatigue.

"Heyyy," Max said, rushing to kneel beside her bed. Placing a hand on Chloe's cheek, Max felt some relief when Chloe lifted her hand to squeeze Max's.

"You keep saving me."

"That's kinda my job at this point, Che."

"...Why?" Chloe asked, a thousand different questions rolled into a single word. Max kissed her softly on the lips, brushing the hair from her face.

"I save you because I love you so goddamn much, Chloe, but I don't know why bad things happened. I wish I did, it'd be pretty convenient."

Chloe closed her eyes and nodded, then opened them up wide as she looked at Max.

"Max, the storm-"

"Fuck it."

"But Max-," Chloe started, her voice gaining some strength.

"No, Che. Fuck it. You've done as much as you can. You get your rest."

Chloe looked at Max, Max's hardening expression, and grabbed Max by the arm.

"No Max, please don't go! Please, I don't fucking want you to!" Chloe shouts frantically, clutching at the woman standing before her, "Stay with me."

"...I have to end this. I love you, Che. Forever," Max said, echoing the earlier words of Chloe before making for the door. Chloe, still drained, stumbled and fell out of the bed. Dana and Juliet appeared in the doorway as Max looked back at Chloe and smiled, her eyes water, "Please keep an eye on her. She's everything to me."

The bus opened up to the foot of the hill where the lighthouse stood atop, the wind kicking up just from Blackwell to the hill strongly enough that it blew the bus driver's hat off and out the door. Max slowly descended the steps outside and crossed the street to where the lighthouse path started. Fishing in her pockets, Max pulled out a joint she had pocketed from Chloe's jacket back at the bed and breakfast. Using a match she'd taken from a school emergency kit in the girls' bathroom, Max managed to light the doobie with the wind howling around her. Hesitantly, Max placed the joint between her lips and took a deep breath in, held the breath for a moment, and let the smoke out. Coughing a little, Max dropped the weed on the path and snuffed it with her shoe. Holding her hand out, Max felt the rain start to come.

"It's coming," Max said to herself. Putting her hood on, Max slowly made her way up the hill. A boulder nearly crashed down on her about halfway up, but she froze time and simply kept walking until she was clear of the giant rock. Letting the boulder crash to the ground and roll down the hill, Max crossed her arms and stuffed her hands between her sides and arms. The air was getting cold. _Oh my god, I think I can see it starting. It's coming,_ Max thought as she peered up at the treeline. Continuing to move forward, Max heard a loud _snap_ and watched as a tree began to fall directly on top of her. Stretching her hand out, Max felt the air around her hand vibrate and the tree froze in place as the storm raged on.

The hilltop, the lighthouse, were like both of her visions. She just stood there, not knowing how long, and watched as the wind and clouds built up near the shore below into a funnel. Lightning crackled around the massive force, wrapping it in tendrils of light. Max, careful to watch her step and surroundings, made her way to the bench and leaned against the back of it, facing outward to the sea.

 _Goodbye, Mom. Goodbye, Dad. I'll miss you fucking much. We didn't always see eye-to-eye, but I'll always be your girl and I'll always love you._ Pulling a battered locket out of her back pocket, Max opened the piece of jewelry and looked at a picture of Chloe from before Max had left for Seattle.

"Che. I managed to be with you in the end. You made me forget the world, and I love you for it," Max said as she kissed the small picture and placed the locket back in her pocket. Stepping to the edge of the cliff, Max heard and felt the lighthouse get struck by lightning, the falling debris barely missing her small form. Arms outstretched, Max closed her eyes and watched as her life flashed before her eyes. She could feel hot tears leaking out of her closed eyes, and couldn't help but laugh. She was terrified, but happy. She got to be happy, genuinely happy, before the end. Max was about to take a step forward when she heard the last thing she expected.

" _MAX!"_

Max backpedaled toward the bench and felt two arms grab her by the waist with a tightness that made her gasp. She didn't even have to look back, she already knew who it was.

"Chloe, let me fucking _go_! This has to end!"

"You don't _know_ that! You don't know that what you were about to do would end this!"

Max spun around and beat at Chloe's chest with her fists, trying to break free.

"Do you have any better fucking ideas?" Max howled, "This all started with me, it can end with me!"

"I can't let you go, Max! I can't!"

"You selfish fuck! You stubborn goddamn motherfu-"

Max felt a tug from within her midsection. It felt like a spasm, but it was as thought it were reaching deeper than Max was big. Then her head felt like something was crushing it. Max fell to her knees, Chloe holding her as they fell together. Max's eyes became bloodshot, and blood trickled out of her nose and mouth.

"Oh my god, Max!" Chloe cried out as she cradled Max's head in her lap, looking frantically into bloodshot eyes.

"Chloe, Chloe? Where are you? Chlo-"

Chloe screamed in horror and pain as Max _disappeared_.

Max was everywhere and nowhere. She was at the junkyard, watching herself sitting beside Chloe. She was running up the lighthouse path in the middle of a storm. Places, times, they all blurred in front of Max's vision. Max lifted up her arms, put her hands to her face as time and space played out before her.

"Wowsers," Max said underneath her breath. She was back at the storm, watching Chloe clutch at a dead Max Caulfield. She was lying in bed next to Chloe, a tattoo on her arm and her hair dyed black. She was lying in bed, back in Seattle, sleepy from an all-night shift at the coffee shop. Max was witnessing the lives and deaths of a numberless amount of Max Caulfields. Max tried to take a step forward, but didn't know if she was moving forward or in place. Turning her head had no real effect in her frame of vision. Max thought she might puke, the disorientation was almost too much. Back to the junkyard, Max watched herself. She knew it was her, she couldn't explain why. Rather than hiding, Max just walked up the hill to where she was close to standing and watched herself take a photo. Max looked puzzled for a moment, then looked at the pink t-shirt past-Max was wearing. The word "Jane" and a doe. Suddenly, something clicked in Max's mind.

"I am the doe," and Max was sucked out of wherever she was.

Chloe hadn't moved as the storm began to slowly relent. She watched as some of the waterfront got blown away, but didn't care. _Blow the fuck away, Arcadia! Blow it, and blow_ _ **me**_ _!_ The love of her life, and Chloe finally admitted to herself that is who Max was, was gone. Not even dead, but _vanished_. She had no body to mourn, and she'd have no casket to bury. Her mind flashed back to her father's funeral and she couldn't stop crying.

"Max-x-x..." Chloe sputtered, trying to stop her crying. She closed her eyes for a moment, and nearly screamed when she felt a familiar weight just appear in her lap. She looked down and saw Max Caulfield, bloody and weak, looking up at her. Max's bloodshot eyes looked up at Chloe and began to tear up, as Max sniffled.

"Oh fuck, Chlo!" Max said as she sat up and held Chloe in her arms. Chloe's cries turned into small fits of giggles. Then, looking out to the coast, closed her arms around Max's frail form like a sieve.

"Max, no," Chloe said faintly as Max stood up, prying herself from Chloe's grip.

"I have to go back! That's why the storm is here, it's why I disappeared!"

"Just come back!"

"Don't you know, Che? I'm hella fucking superheroic," and Max vanished once more.

Max knew where she needed to go, but she had to find which way led to when. Her head was pounding, and the vision in her right eye was becoming blurry. _The body methinks doth protest too much_ , Max thought as she _pushed_ at time and felt the intangible barrier soften. Pushing herself in, Max was standing in the girls' restroom of Blackwell Academy. Looking down the row of sinks, she watched her past self splash her face. Max knew what it was that she had to do. She had to, _somehow_ , give past self the power she possesses. _I'm a pair-a-ducks_ , Max thought with a grim smile. She pushed her outstretched hand toward her past self and felt a slight give, but nothing more. She tried again and felt the muscles in her arm begin to fail her. The vision in her right eye was nearly gone and she tasted copper on her tongue. Straining with all her might, Max Caulfield raised up and outstretched both of her arms. _Push! Push!_ Max felt her body begin to fatigue when a slender hand grabbed one of her outstretched hands and she felt a surge of energy as the power began to flow away from her and into the past self who was walking toward her. Max turned her head and saw a familiar face, smiling at her as a butterfly flew into the restroom. _Rachel Amber_.

"The butterfly-" Max started before Rachel interrupted.

"The doe. The mind sees what it wants, Max, but it can't see everything. Tell Chlo that I'm glad she's happy. It was nice to finally meet you face-to-face."

The last sentence was barely audible to Max as everything went _black._

"-ax! Max, please wake up! MAX!"

Max could hear someone shouting, but it was so muffled that the voice was unrecognizable.

"God-...do this to-"

The hum in the back of her head was fading, her hearing slowly coming back. A white burst of light suddenly filled the void and Max's eyes opened, squinting the sunset. Max felt before saw Chloe kiss her on the lips several times.

"Oh, Jesus! Oh, _fuck_! Max!" Chloe cried out in elation.

Max grinned weakly and squinted. The light was so bright, but her eyes were beginning to focus. And with her senses came her mind, and thoughts.

"How did you ge-"

"Do you really think two girls could keep me away from getting to you? Max, _what the fuck were you thinking_? That could've gone so wrong! _What the fuck were you thinking_?" Chloe yelled, crying as she did so. Max began to cry too, but the sobs turned to laughter.

"Max Caulfield, what the goddamn _fuck_ is so hilarious?" Chloe asked, getting a little pissed. She looked down at Max and found her looking up at Chloe with a sheepish grin on her face.

"I was just thinking that this would make a great picture for the Everyday Heroes contest."


	5. Chapter 5

Max wakes up in a hospital room, the quiet footfalls outside her door and the beep of the EKG machine next to her bed the only sounds she can hear. It's night, and the lights are dimmed to allow for patients to sleep. Max sits up carefully, her head feeling like a weight, and examines herself and the room. She's in a hospital gown, tucked into the bed. An IV line has been inserted into her right arm. She's near the window, so she assumes she's the only person in the room. The television attached to the wall across from the bed is off, a chair underneath it containing her camera bag and laptop. There's a pair of battered headphones sitting on top of the laptop, cable plugged in. Slowly swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Max begins to walk toward the bathroom in a daze, when the jerking of the IV line pulls at her arm.

"Ehh?" Max looks over, then grabs the wheeled rack the IV bag is on and walks to the bathroom. Turning on the overhead light for the sink, Max winces at the sudden brightness, her eyes needing a moment to adjust. Max splashes her face with cool water from the sink, then looks up to examine herself in the mirror. Eyes bloodshot, blood crusting just outside her nostrils, Max touches the purple bruise above her eye where she'd fallen at the lighthouse. _The lighthouse,_ Max thought, _How did I get here? I wonder how much time has passed._ Max winced as her head began to slowly pound, and dragged her IV bag behind her back to the bed. Lying back down, Max was hit with a wave of exhaustion and yawned. Max could barely keep her eyes open, but she needed to know what was going on. Max tried to sit back up, but her head felt too heavy, so she used to bed controls to place herself in a sitting position. _So tired, but I'd like to know what is going on before I pass out. Which could be momentarily. Ugh, so tired._ Max heard a click from the door and watched her parents come walking in, with Chloe right behind them. Max smiled at Chloe weakly, Chloe responding with a slight blush and awkward expression. Max's parents loomed over their daughter's bed, her father placing a hand on Max's shoulder. Max weakly squeezed his hand, then looked over at Chloe with concern as she began to wrap up the headphones and place the laptop in the camera bag. Before Max could say anything, Chloe was out the door.

"Wha-, where's Chloe going?" Max asked, fighting to stay awake.

"She's going home to get some rest, Max. You've been asleep for a couple days. It's Sunday evening," Max's mother said, gently stroking her daughter's cheek, eyes wet with tears.

"But why is she leaving? She looked-"

"I think the more pressing concern is how are _you_ doing, Max," Max's father asked, worry lines creasing his forehead, "What happened? All Chloe would tell is that you had some kind of attack. The doctor's say you have a mild concussion, but other than that are fine."

"Uh, I don't really remember," Max said, feeling awkward as she lied to her parents. _They couldn't handle the facts. Thanks for the save, Chloe._ "I remember being at the lighthouse, then feeling dizzy and Chloe catching me. That's it.

"Well," Max's mother continued, "the important thing is that you're awake and going to be alright. The doctor said that we could discharge you tomorrow morning. We're staying at a hotel a couple blocks away, so we'll rent you a room."

"Thanks, but if it all the same to you I'd like to stay with Chloe at her place," Max said, noticing a look between her parents, "Wh-what is it?"

"Max...we think it might be best if you didn't see Chloe," Max's father said, "She's pretty upset right now and you should focus on feeling better."

"...What did you do?" Max asked, furrowing her brow. An alertness crept into her voice, and her parents noticed that she was becoming more awake.

"Well, we told her that you'd be coming back to Seattle to recuperate. You suffered a concussion, sweetie. We just want to be able to keep an eye-"

"No, Mom. I don't want to go back."

"Now, Max. You have been injured. Blackwell does not seem very safe, and you've been exposed to so much trauma over the past week. You need stability. You need to come home." Max's mother said with a stern tone. Her husband looked over at her with a grimace, knowing that another argument between mother and daughter was incoming.

"I think that _I_ should get to decide what is best for me at some point," Max started, "Is this another 'what's best' situation?"

"Max, please don't start. What good would it have done, moving to a new place but leaving to come back here. You needed to think for your future, not get dragged back into the past."

"...Get out."

"Max, you're not listen-"

"I _am_ listening, but you're not understanding. Just...just go," Max said, closing her eyes. When her parents didn't move, Max leaned over and pressed the call button. Her mother, with a wounded expression, turned around slowly and walked out. Max's father stayed, looking down at his frail little angel.

"Maxie, you need to try and be reasonable with you mother. You know that she loves you, wants what would be best for you. Why do you two always have to argue?"

"Because she takes my future into consideration, but not necessarily my _feelings_ , Dad. You and I had to push her to go for Blackwell, for months."

"And Chloe had nothing to do with that...?"

"Dad, you know how I feel. And you know that I won't change my mind."

"Your mother will not be easily dissuaded from dragging you back to Seattle."

"Then _you_ make her see reason. I'm tired, and just fed up. Everything is okay with her so long as she has almost complete control of the situation. Please, talk to her, and I _am_ going to go see Chloe. The second I'm checked out."

"...Alright, kiddo. I don't know what I'll say to your mom, but I will talk to her," Max's father kissed her on the forehead, "Just get some rest and we'll be back in the morning. Max closed her eyes, and drifted into a dreamless sleep. No Kate on the roof, no storm or lighthouse - just sleep.

Around 8am Max's parents returned to the hospital. Walking to the desk of the unit Max was in, Max's mother got the attention of one of the attending nurses.

"We're here to visit our daughter, Max Caulfield," Max's mother said, somewhat irritable. She had spent most of the night up in an at-times heated conversation with her husband, who looked bleary-eyed. Max's mother watched as the nurse looked over the computer screen, then glanced up at them.

"Says here she checked out around 7:30am this morning," the nurse replied dryly.

"But, but we're her parents," Max's mother sputtered in confusion, her husband sighing and shaking his head, "She can't just check herself out."

"According to the file, she's 18. While you are her parents, she _is_ allowed to check herself out. Says here she seemed to be 'under duress'."

Max's mother turned around to face her husband.

"You told her we'd be back? Why did she check herself out?"

"You know why," Max's father replied, his wife's shoulders sagging.

Max walked down the waterfront, watching as firefighters and police worked with business owners to assess damage and clear any remaining debris from parking lots. Some of the businesses, Max noticed, had come away demolished. Coming up short in making landfall, the storm had caused more wind and water damage to some of the buildings facing the beach than anything else. Aside from that, Max assumed that any other damage had been taken care of. Max continued down the waterfront, splashing her feet in the surf. Sighing, she walked up the beach to the street and made for Two Whales, hoping that Chloe was there.

Two Whales was nearly empty when Max got there, a single patron sitting in a corner booth facing away from the door. Joyce turned around to greet her new customer, but stopped herself when she saw who it was. Signaling to Joyce with a finger to her lips, Max walked quietly toward the blue-haired girl sitting alone. Max had so much to talk to Chloe about, but she couldn't pass up this opportunity. Plus, she felt like she needed some payback.

"Mom, when are those pancakes coming? I'm hella sta-"

"BOOYAH!" Max shouted from the booth behind Chloe. Max watched Chloe jump in the booth and scream, then spin around to scowl at Max, "I'm a scary fucking ghost, huh?"

"Max...," Chloe said, taking in a deep breath, still startled, "That was so not-, oh goddamnit. Payback, really?" Chloe swung her arm around to punch Max in the shoulder but ended up catching her when Max bent down to kiss her.

Max broke off the kiss and sat down in the booth next to Chloe, leaning her head against Chloe's arm. Chloe felt her face flush, but leaned her head on Max's head gingerly so as to not possibly hurt her. The two women said nothing as they just enjoyed each other's company, Max curling a pinky finger around Chloe's pinky.

"You're hella adorable, Max-a-roon," Chloe said, her eyes closed as she took in the peacefulness she felt when Max was around. The world felt different to Chloe when she knew she had Max, and for the time being she felt she did. Taking back her pinky, Chloe relaxed her arm across the back cushion of the booth, combing her fingers through Max's hair.

"Purr," Max said innocently, eyes closed with a contented smile.

"Seriously, if you get any more cute I may have to purge you from my system. A Chloe can only take so much," Chloe said teasingly. _This girl is_ _ **my**_ _Max. Bruised, bloodied, brave and beautiful. But still a complete geek, of course._

"Gasp," Max said, feigning surprise, "Whatever shall I do? I guess I'll go sit across from y-"

"Do not move," Chloe whispered into Max's ear, kissing Max on the cheek, "Mom, seriously where's the fudz?"

Joyce came walking over with two orders of pancakes a cup of coffee for Max. Placing her hand on Max's shoulder, Joyce smiled at the two of them before walking back behind the counter. Spreading the butter and syrup across the top of her pancakes, Max cut a large piece of pancake up and greedily stuffed it into her mouth. The piece was so big her cheeks puffed a bit, eliciting a chuckle from Chloe. Max closed her eyes as the deliciousness continued, bite after bite. The coffee quickly disappeared, only to be refilled once more. Max felt ravenous, and didn't notice that Chloe had leaned on the table, watching Max with a grin. Mopping up the last of the maple syrup with the final piece of pancake, Max pounded down her breakfast and covered her mouth as she burped. Patting her stomach, Max looked over to Chloe with a humored grin.

"Are you the father...of my food baby?" Max asked, giggling.

"Dude, I'm not Pancake-American. Sorry, s'what you get for eating around."

Max laughed and kissed Chloe on the cheek, then laughed harder when Chloe wiped the slight smear of syrup off her face with a handful of napkins. Signaling to get up, Chloe walked past Max to place a $10 on the counter and the made to head out.

"Max," Joyce called out as Chloe and Max reached the doors, "could you come here a minute?"

Max walked over to Joyce, then a few seconds later handed Joyce her Polaroid camera. Joyce, smiling as she looked at the old camera, lifted it up as Max leaped up toward Chloe. Barely catching Max, the flash went off as Max gave Chloe a kiss while being carried. Handing the camera back to Max with a grin, Joyce waved the photo a few times while Chloe and Max left the diner.

Walking with no real direction picked out, Chloe and Max walked hand-in-hand down the waterfront. Chloe would occasionally bend down to hit Max with a slight splash from the water, to which Max would try to push Chloe into the surf. Looking at Max, Chloe's lips tightened as she thought of the five years of waiting. _It could've been forever. What if you hadn't gone to Blackwell? Would you still be here? Will you still be here? I'm so fucking sappy._ Chloe looked over Max at the coastline. The sky was partly cloudy, but what sunlight wasn't obscured was reflected in the rippling water. Chloe wanted this moment to last forever. She wanted _this_ , squeezing Max's hand gently, to last forever.

"So..." Max said, snapping Chloe out of her thoughts.

"Soooo, what?" Chloe said in a neutral tone.

"My 'rents, Chlo. You three did not seem particularly happy. You all but ran from my room when I woke up. I wish you hadn't."

"I kinda, maybe got into with your mom before you woke up, Max. She was all 'Oh, Chloe, it's so nice to see you.' and I was all 'Dude, you stole my girlfriend'."

"Aww, you called me your _girlfriend,_ " Max said teasingly, poking Chloe in the side with a finger, "You're not the only one to get into it with her, Che. Parents can be a pain in the ass sometimes."

"Heh, you say that as though there is some experience."

"There was little in the way of sunshine and rainbows in Seattle," Max said, taking a seat on the beach. Max patted the sand by where she sat but Chloe sat down across from her and lit up a joint, "Sure, I did have fun there but we got into it more often than not."

"We...?"

"My mom and me. She wouldn't let me come down to see you, even when I paid for my own way."

"What the fuck? You tried to come down here?" Chloe asked, her face brightening a bit.

"Yeah. I pleaded with my mom a lot about bringing me here to visit you, but nothing ever took. She only ever looks _forward_. Even when I used money from my part-time job at a coffee shop, she'd be waiting for me to pop up at the bus station whenever I had a weekend off."

"Barista Max? Figures, hippie." Chloe snorted, then coughed when the pot smoke caught in her throat. Once Chloe stopped coughing, Max continued.

"I made friends in Seattle, hung out and everything. But I _never_ forgot about you. Eventually, I started to feel awkward about contacting you. I didn't know what I would say, what you would say. I left you at the worst possible time _ever_ , and I wasn't sure if you'd want to see me," Max finished, looking down at the sand as she sifted it through her splayed fingers.

"Max. You're here now. That's what matters," Chloe said, putting her hands on Max's shoulders.

"But my parents want me to go back to Seattle with them! Chloe, I don't want to leave! Not again!" Max said anxiously, "This is such bullshit."

Max's phone went off. Pulling the phone out, Max saw it was her mother calling. Sighing, Max went to answer when Chloe grabbed the phone. Standing up, Chloe answered the phone and put it to her ear.

"Mrs. Caulfield. Hey, it's Chloe. Yeah, Max is here. Uh, no, I don't think she wants to talk to you. But I have something to say. Mrs. Caulfield, I love your daughter. For five years, despite good intentions, you split us up despite our wanting to be together. We're happy, and we have a fucking chance to stay that way. I know that you w-, yes, I know. I've been to Seattle, I know it's hella great, but I _love_ your daughter. We were best friends, but now we're more. If you drag her-, no goddamnit _you_ listen! If you drag her out of Arcadia Bay, you won't just break her heart you'll destroy it. And I...," Chloe paused, just listening for a minute. Then, after sighing and rolling her eyes, Chloe handed Max her phone back.

"Max?" Max's mother asked.

"Yeah, Mom. What?"

"Max, we were so worried. We didn't know-"

"That was kinda the point."

"...Max...Is what Chloe said true? Do you love her, as more than just a friend?" The pause in her mother's voice gave Max pause. _What is she getting at?_ , Max thought to herself.

"Yes, Mom. I'm in love with Chloe, and I want to stay in Blackwell so I can be here with her. Please don't make me leave. If you do, well I don't know what I'll do but I'll do something."

"Alright," Max's mother said in a clipped tone, "If you want to stay in Blackwell, _despite_ everything that has happened there, then fine. Stay. But you _call us_ if you need anything or want to come home. We do love you, Max, even if you don't feel it sometimes."

"I know. I...I love you guys, too," Max said, glaring at Chloe as Chloe made a gagging expression.

"We'll be here for a few more days. We _would_ like to see you, y'know."

"I know, Mom. Would it be cool if Chloe was with us?"

"Well, I suppose we'll all have to talk. Eventually. Just let us know when you want to come see us, Max. We love you."

 _Click._ The call ended, and Max pocketed her cell phone. Chloe looked at Max expectantly, sitting on her knees opposite Max.

"I can stay, Che. If you'll have me, I'd like to stay."

"Fuck yes, I hella-fucking-would. God, Max, is this real?" Chloe said, hugging Max to her tightly. The two women cried in each other's arms as the surf slowly lapped at the beach, falling over as they began laughing. Chloe propped herself up by her elbows and looked at Max with an excited grin.

"God, this is going to be so fucking awesome! We're going to get to see each other every day, Max! There's so much we can do! We could visit Portland, get you some new threads. Maybe even ink you up a bit!"

"Breathe, Che, breathe. There's a _lot_ of time for us to do things, now, but you know what I could go for?" Max asked Chloe, a mischievous look in her eyes.

"Uh, what?" Chloe asked, dumbfounded and lost in her own elation.

"Splish splash," Max said, bending over to untie her shoes. Chloe laughed and pulled off her boots, then stood up and began to run towards the surf.

"Bring it, 'Shaka Brah'!"

Blackwell remained closed for the entire week after the storm, and Chloe loved it. The two women hardly left the other's side, Joyce letting Max stay with her and Chloe. David would come by every day to talk to Joyce, the two starting to reconcile, but Chloe was oblivious to nearly everything that wasn't Max-related. They spent the first two days after Max released herself from the hospital almost entirely in Chloe's room, listening to music and catching up on five years of history. Chloe highlighted Max's hair with some amber-colored hair dye, deeming that Max needed some "punk in her style", while Max took picture-after-picture of the pair of them together. Lying in bed, telling jokes or stories, she even managed to let Chloe snap a couple shots of her singing along to Max's guitar recordings. On the third day, Chloe and Max went to go visit Max's parents before they left for Seattle.

Max's father chuckled to himself as his daughter walked up the stairs to their hotel room with Chloe right behind. He hadn't seen his daughter this happy ever. Wearing Chloe's jacket and her Jane t-shirt, Max gave her dad a hug while Chloe shook his hand. Max and her mother hugged as well, albeit with some hesitation at first. Max's mother complimented her daughter on the highlights, then looked at Chloe with a bemused expression when Max told her that Chloe did her hair. Max's parents and the pair sat in the hotel room and talked for a couple hours, Chloe and Max holding hands the entire time. When Max's mother would step outside to smoke a cigarette or leave to use the bathroom, Chloe would steal quick kisses from Max in front of Max's father, who just took it all in with a large grin on his face, happy that his daughter was happy. Chloe and Max watched Max's parents drive out of the parking lot for Seattle, both waving after them.

"What now, Max?" Chloe asked as they got into her truck. Chloe looked at Max, _her_ Max, and smiled.

"Hey, can we go see Kate? I saw that she was back at Blackwell yesterday. I'd like to see her, if that's cool," Max asked, thinking of her friend.

"Hell yeah, that's cool. I should meet Kate anyway, shouldn't I?"

"Well, if you're going to make _my_ life _your_ business, then yes. Dork."

"Hippie."

"Spaz."

"Gay."

" _Hella_ gay."

The hall of the girls' dorm was busy, people slowly resuming their daily routines. Dana and Juliet were deep in discussion outside Dana's room, Brooke playing with her phone while sitting in the hall. Taylor was talking to Victoria, Victoria's head poking out of her partly-opened door. When Max and Chloe entered the hall, Dana ran over and hugged them both, glad they were there.

"You are _so_ coming to my Halloween party, right?" Dana asked Chloe and Max. Chloe looked over at Max, a little confused, but Max nodded and told Dana they'd _both_ be coming.

"Max, you missed so much crazy shit!" Juliet said as she joined the discussion, "Nathan was arrested right outside! Someone told me they found all these skeezy-"

"Ugh, dammit, we know," Chloe said, her brow furrowing, "We don't need details. Fucking creepy rich boy."

Juliet's eyes narrowed in thought for a second as neither Max or Chloe would meet her gaze, then reluctantly shrugged and continued on.

"The Vortex Club could be gone soon, too. After you blew up at Victoria, Max, Taylor went over and gave Victoria a piece of her mind, too. Alyssa said she thought she heard Victoria tearing something up in her room, but no one's bothered to check. This is the first time she's actually spoken to anyone in almost a week," Juliet said, her and Dana turning their heads to look at Victoria. Noticing the group near the stairway door, Victoria spotted Max and promptly slammed her door shut, knocking Taylor back a couple steps in surprise, "It's falling apart pretty fast, what with Nathan turning out to be a complete shit."

"Nathan Prescott was always a shit. It's just that people put up with it. And good for Taylor - she deserves better than Victoria," Max said before waving to Dana and Juliet as she dragged Chloe toward Kate's room.

Knocking on Kate's door gently, Max a familiar "Come in" and opened the door. Kate Marsh sat at her desk, her bunny on her lap as Kate rubbed between its ears affectionately. Looking up, Kate saw Max and grinned.

"Hey, Max! Um, who's this?" Kate said, walking to the doorway while cradling her rabbit in an arm.

"Kate, this is my-," Max started, only to be stopped by Chloe rubbing a finger between the ears of Kate's bunny.

"Hey, I'm Chloe. Max is, well, we're together," Chloe said, offering her hand.

Kate looked at Max with a quizzical expression, then smiled when she saw Max blushing. Gesturing for them to come in, Kate closed the door behind Chloe as Max sat on the floor with Chloe behind her on Kate's bed, Chloe's hands on Max's shoulders. Kate took her seat at the desk and petted the bunny.

"How are you, Kate? I didn't think you'd be back in Blackwell so soon," Max said, looking at Kate. The dark circles around her eyes remained, but Kate's eyes weren't red or puffy anymore, and the sunlight from the windows made the room cheerier.

"I didn't think so, either, but I wanted to come back. I, uh, have to go see the counselor on campus twice a week now. That's okay, though, because I want to. If counseling will help, I'll try it. Max, I-I wanted to say thank you. In person."

"Kate, I told you that you saved-"

"Max, what you said up on the roof? You meant it, you helped find proof of everything that happened. I know that it was you who found the evidence against Nathan. I don't know how, but I just do. And you saved my life, no matter what you said. You're the best friend I have here, Max, and I'll never forget all that you've done for me," Kate said, her eyes becoming watery.

Max moved over to her friend and held her. _Kate's crying again_ , Max thought, _but this time there's a lot less sadness. I'm so glad that she's okay - I can't imagine what would have happened if she'd jumped. The world would be a lot colder, I think. Wowsers._ Letting go of Kate, Max kissed her friend on the cheek and rubbed the bunny's side, then signaled Chloe it was time to leave.

"Come over whenever you feel like, Kate. You have more than just your counselor to talk to, you know. You have friends in this hall, and we all care about you a lot," Max said at the doorway.

"Thanks, Max. And you know we're going to talk about this girlfriend of yours, right?" Kate said with a small, wry grin.

Max nodded and met Chloe over at the door to her dorm room. Opening the door, Max jumped into her bed and lay there, watching as Chloe closed the door and slid next to Max in bed. Draping an arm across Max's chest, Chloe sighed and closed her eyes. _I have you, Max, and you have me. I'll hold onto you with a fucking death grip if I have to. You're not slipping out this time, Caulfield._ Chloe felt Max nuzzle herself against Chloe's neck and Chloe made a purring sound, feeling the smaller woman wrap her arms around her. Looking down, Chloe saw Max looking at her, then closed her eyes and kissed Max. The kiss didn't break so much as turn into several kisses in repetition, their lips parting briefly only to resume contact.

"Max?" Chloe asked after they had finished kissing, "Would you play your guitar for me?"

Sitting up, Max kissed Chloe on the forehead and crawled over her to get off the bed. Sitting at the couch, Max took her guitar and began to tune it, Chloe laying on her side as she watched Max fiddle with the strings. Finally satisfied with the tuning, Max began to strum a melody. Chloe nodded her head to the beat, then smiled as she recognized the song.

"Piano Fire? You know Sparklehorse?" Chloe asked, quizzical but surprised.

"I'm a geek, Che, not a mute. Just because I might fit a cliche doesn't mean I _am_ one."

"Not anymore, maybe. You're lucky I find photog nerds hella sexy. Especially ones that can play Sparklehorse," Chloe said as Max approached the chorus, " _How do you feel? How do you feel? I can't seem to see through solid marble eyes..."_

Author's Note - I contemplated ending "Rebel Girl" with this scene. I felt that I had closed enough of the story. There is resolution by the end in a number of plot lines, but I also know that I would be lying to myself if I didn't want to write more about my own take on what could've happened if Max had gone after Chloe at the end of Chaos Theory instead of going back to her room. I want to thank everybody who has read this so far, as I enjoy sharing my writing with people who enjoy it in turn.

End of "Rebel Girl".

Precursor to "The Power is On", name taken from a song by _The Go! Team_. What could that title mean, hmm...


End file.
